


Tough Love

by JackOfAllTrades97



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-18 11:11:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12386910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackOfAllTrades97/pseuds/JackOfAllTrades97
Summary: In this world there are those who are connected by the bond of their very soul, two people such as this share a mark of great significance. And this is a story about two such people, this is the story of a princess and a poet, who were soulmates. AU where Branch and Poppy are soulmates and in a relationship, co-written by NerdAlert8910. He posted it on fanfiction and I'm posting it here.





	1. Going For Grey

In this world there are those who are connected by the bond of their very soul, two people such as this share a mark of great significance. And this is a story about two such people, this is the story of a princess and a poet, who were soulmates.

Deep in the lush greenery of the forest was the soft sound of music, and a sweet melodic voice floating through the air. And the source of this music was a bright pink teenage troll, princess Poppy.

HANDS, PUT YOUR EMPTY HANDS IN MINE.

AND SCARS, SHOW ME ALL THE SCARS YOU HIDE.

AND HEY, IF YOUR WINGS ARE BROKEN.

PLEASE TAKE MINE SO YOURS CAN OPEN TOO.

'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU.

Princess Poppy was wearing a blue dress, and had a flowery headband running across her forehead. As she walked through the lush greenery of the forest, she took in all of the beauty around her. The smell of the flowers, the shimmering beams of golden light streaming through foliage. But Poppy couldn't appreciate this all, because her mind was on a certain troll.

OH, TEARS MAKE KALEIDOSCOPES IN YOUR EYES.

AND HURT, I KNOW YOU'RE HURTING, BUT SO AM I.

AND LOVE, IF YOUR WINGS ARE BROKEN.

BORROW MINE SO YOURS CAN OPEN TOO.

'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU.

EVEN IF WE'RE BREAKING DOWN, WE CAN FIND A WAY TO BREAK THROUGH!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'LL WALK THROUGH HELL WITH YOU!

LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE,'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'LL WALK THROUGH HELL WITH YOU!

LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE,'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

Just then she saw a glimpse of Grey in the corner of her eye, and she smiled walking up to the resident grump. She folded her hands behind her back, and fiddled with the grass with her foot. "Hi Branch!" She said bashfully, her face turning a darker pink than usual. Branch, who was collecting sticks, just rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Hello princess, what do you want?"

Poppy walked alongside him, shooting glances at him every now and then. "Well I was wondering if we could, well ya know, hang out?" She said with as much confidence as she could, but it was so hard for her to do so in front of him. He made her so nervous, because she had a big crush on him. "Yeah no offense Poppy, but I think I'll pass on that. Maybe some other time, I'm really busy with work right now."

Poppy drooped a little, but then realized he said maybe some other time. "So when?" She asked enthusiastically, Branch glanced at her with his brow raised. Then shook his head. "Poppy why do you want to hang out with me? I'm sure you have other friends who you would rather spend time with, why me?" She stopped him from walking, talking the twigs and setting them down. She then took his hands in hers, and looked him straight in the eyes, making him blush a grayish purple color.

"Yes I have lots of friends, but you don't have anyone… and I don't want you to be alone. You're already grey and sad, you don't need to be lonely too." Branch rolled his eyes and pulled his hands away, he turned away saying. "Great, I'm a charity case. That makes me feel so much better." The sarcasm dripping from his voice, but Poppy grabbed his shoulders and turning him to face her. "You are not a charity case to me! I like you branch, and I know that deep… deep… deep deep down you're a good, kind and loving person!"

Branch had gotten more irritated with every "deep" she said, but he appreciated her words. She did care about him, and he cared about her very much. He'd had a crush on her since he was 7 years old, but he didn't want her to be with him. Branch was grey, and Poppy deserved to be with someone just as bright happy and colorful as her. "That's nice of you to say Poppy, maybe next week okay? But I said maybe!" Poppy had to hold in the squeal she wanted to let out, but she was surprised to hear the ding of her hug time bracelet. "Don't even think about it!"

But he was too late, Poppy had already wrapped him up in a big hug. He frowned at her, and said in an irritated voice. "You know, you're not helping your chances right now." Poppy just laughed, and squeezed him tighter. "Oh you know you love it!" Finally letting go of him, he did a big stretch. Poppy rolled her eyes at this, but then saw something on his shoulder. It looked like a dark blue tattoo of some sort, like a small sapling. Poppy had one just like it, on the nape of her neck.

She was going to say something, but she decided against it. She helped him pick up his wood, and said. "Well I should probably let you get back to work." Branch readjusted the sticks, and nodded at her. Walking off into the brush, and leaving her alone. As she stared off where he had been, the mark on his shoulder kept gnawing at her mind. She was so confused, so she did what she always did when she felt confused.

Sing.

YEAH, YOU'RE ALL I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED.

AND THE HEART, SOMETIMES IT'S UNCLEAR WHY IT'S BEATING.

AND LOVE, IF YOUR WINGS ARE BROKEN.

WE CAN BRAVE THROUGH THOSE EMOTIONS TOO.

'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU.

She started walking through the forest again, wondering what the significance of the mark was.

OH, TRUTH, I GUESS TRUTH IS WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN.

AND FAITH, I THINK FAITH IS HELPING TO REASON.

NO, NO, NO, LOVE, IF YOUR WINGS ARE BROKEN.

BORROW MINE SO YOURS CAN OPEN TOO.

'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU.

She came upon a tree, and used her hair to climb it. Walking along the branches, looking at all the flowers and leaves.

EVEN IF WE'RE BREAKING DOWN, WE CAN FIND A WAY TO BREAK THROUGH!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'LL WALK THROUGH HELL WITH YOU!

LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE,'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'LL WALK THROUGH HELL WITH YOU!

LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE,'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

She stopped at the end of a branch, looking over the top of the forest. The wind blowing the leaves around, a long flowing River in the distance. And at the top of a hill very far away, was Bergan town… that dreadful place, she didn't remember it but Branch did…

I'LL BE YOUR EYES WHEN YOURS CAN'T SHINE.

I'LL BE YOUR ARMS, I'LL BE YOUR STEADY SATELLITE.

AND WHEN YOU CAN'T RISE, WELL, I'LL CRY WITH YOU ON HANDS AND KNEES.

'CAUSE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

She jumped off the Branch, landing on a vine and sliding down on her knees. As soon as she landed, she sang her heart out. The emotions making the mark on the back of her neck shine, ever so slightly.

I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

EVEN IF WE'RE BREAKING DOWN, WE CAN FIND A WAY TO BREAK THROUGH!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'LL WALK THROUGH HELL WITH YOU!

LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE,'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

EVEN IF WE CAN'T FIND HEAVEN, I'LL WALK THROUGH HELL WITH YOU!

LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE,'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE,'CAUSE I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU!

Poppy pushed the leaves and grass out of the way, revealing her home. Troll village, and in the distance was her father's pod. Maybe he would know something about the marks on her and Branch?

I'M GONNA STAND BY YOU.


	2. Something There

Poppy walked into her father's pod, her mind full of questions with no answers in sight. She tentatively approached her father, hoping he'd have the answers as he always seems to. "Hey dad, can I ask you a question?" King Peppy looked up from his crossword puzzle and gestured for his daughter to take a seat. "You know my ears are always open and I will answer to the best of my ability." he said kindly. Poppy slowly, as if walking to her execution, took a seat in front of her father. Peppy cleared his throat, "Now what has you so nervous to speak to me about my dear?" Poppy swallowed nervously, now that she had been asked point blank by her father she realised she had thought of many things on the way here but not how to word her question. Peppy, seeing his daughter's struggle putting together the right words took matters into his own hands, there was only one thing Peppy could think of that would make his usually blunt daughter this tongue tied and shy.

"Poppy, is your question about a mark?" Poppy's head snapped up from where she had lowered it to stare at her hands which were now twisting into one another in her bout of nerves. Shock showed plainly on her face mingled with relief that she didn't have to force the words out. Finally Poppy regained use of words and asked, "How did you know?! Do you really know everything? I thought for sure you were joking about that!" Peppy smiled a gentle smile at his now rambling daughter and waited until she stopped for breath. "I mean the adults all said you knew everything that happened in the village but-" and when Poppy went to inhale like Peppy expected he quickly put a finger on her lips to silence her before she could get her second wind.

"Poppy, in the past if you ever needed to talk to me about anything you would say it out right and immediately. The only time you have ever not done so was when you asked about your mark and why you have it. Thinking back now you were quite young when I explained it so it is quite possible you don't remember that conversation. Am I correct?" Peppy calmly asked as his daughter mentally worked through what he told her. Peppy removed his hand and Poppy immediately asked, "Wait, are you saying I've asked this before I just don't remember!?" Peppy leaned back into his seat and nodded the affirmative. Poppy leaned further forward, "Can you tell me again Dad? What does the mark on my neck mean? ...What does it mean if there is one exactly the same on someone else?"

At the last question Peppy sat up straight as his head swiveled to his daughter. His shocked face slowly slid into a tired smile "Ahh so that is what this is about. You found the one who shares your mark, didn't you?" Poppy tilted her head in confusion, "Yes, but how did you know that? And what do you mean that is what this is about? Dad, what is going on?!" Seeing his daughter starting to panic he rushed to reassure her before she could get the wrong idea, "Poppy! There's nothing wrong or bad about what's happening. In fact it's a cause for celebration. It's not everyday you find your Soulmate!"

Poppy, looking even more confused now asked, "My what?" Peppy smiled at his daughter's confusion and patiently explained, "Your Soulmate. That mark on your neck and the matching one on whoever you saw today are a sign. A sign that you two share a bond or maybe to be more accurate that you could share a very special bond if you wished." Poppy looking slightly less confused now inquired further, "What kind of bond are you talking about, Dad?" Peppy smiled a tender smile as he wistfully remembered his late wife, "Your mother and I shared a mark. The marks are a way of knowing who you are most compatible with. You don't have to act on them, but all of the trolls I know of that have them are all happily bonded now." Hearing her father talk about her mother was a rare treat for Poppy and she soaked up all of the information she could. "You and mom had marks that match? What is your mark? And what does bonded mean?"

Peppy dragged himself out of his memories to answer his curious daughter, "Well let's start with the easiest to answer, yes your mother and I had matching marks and they were of songbirds and they were on our hands. Mine on my left and hers on her right. Now for the hardest to explain. Bonded is basically a mental, physical, emotional link between two trolls and the only ones who can be bonded are those who have matching marks somewhere on their bodies. So for an example, your mother and I could see each other's dreams, feel each other's pain, and with enough practice and a strong enough bond we managed to actually share dreams but if you get to that point it will be a long while off. It takes being on the same wavelength as someone mind, body, and soul. Being one person in two bodies. It is no easy feat. Many bonded trolls who have been that way for years still haven't pulled it off."

Poppy was on the edge of her seat, soaking all of the information in as quickly as she could all the while her mind was in a frenzy, 'Her and Branch? Sure she had a crush on him but he stated on a regular basis that he wanted little to nothing to do with her. If what her father said was true, and it must be since he would never make this up, then soulmates were something very special that not everyone had. Her and Branch, no matter how much she tried, didn't get along often. Most of the time he treated her like a mere annoyance that he needed to humor to make her go away. Is that truly what it was going to be?' Now with a full and chaotic mind Poppy stood abruptly from the floor. "Thank you so much Dad, I know it isn't easy talking about Mom. I...really have a lot to think about now so I think I'm gonna go to my pod for awhile."

Peppy stood as well and wrapped his daughter into a hug that she looked like she desperately needed. "I know right now everything is confusing, but it will get better. Go home, rest, and sort through your thoughts." After the hug ends Poppy slowly made her way to her own pod with considerably less question than when she first came but somehow with more to think about. She reached the pod, opening one of the petals to step inside, and walked over to her desk by the window where all her scrapbooking materials were. She picked up the scissors and sighed, looking down at a grey sheet of felt. "Soulmates huh? As if…" Poppy picked up the felt and began to cut. Singing a little tune.

RAINDROPS FALL FROM EVERYWHERE.

As her fingers guided the blade the felt began to take shape, a small grey body.

I REACH OUT FOR YOU BUT YOU'RE NOT THERE.

As she reached for the black, the small figure looked more and more recognizable.

SO I STOOD WAITING IN THE DARK.

Greens and browns making up the outfit, and a small pair of googly eyes to finish it off.

WITH YOUR PICTURE IN MY HANDS

STORY OF A BROKEN HEART.

She then grabbed the pink, repeating the process.

STAY WITH ME, DON'T LET ME GO

CAUSE I CAN'T BE WITHOUT YOU.

Then when they were done she picked up her scrapbook, opening it to a page that was an empty flower patch.

JUST STAY WITH ME AND HOLD ME CLOSE

BECAUSE I'VE BUILT MY WORLD AROUND YOU

AND I DON'T WANNA KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE WITHOUT YOU

SO STAY WITH ME, JUST STAY WITH ME

Using glue she placed the two fingers in the book, and in a big red marker she wrote. 'True Love!' above them. The small trolls were hugging, Except there was one inaccuracy.

I'M TRYING AND HOPING FOR THE DAY

WHEN MY TOUCH IS ENOUGH TO TAKE THE PAIN AWAY

Branch was hugging back.

CAUSE I'VE SEARCHED FOR SO LONG, THE ANSWER IS CLEAR

WE'LL BE OKAY IF WE DON'T LET IT DISAPPEAR

She stared at the new page sadly, was this what she was destined for? To be part of an unrequited love, all because he can't accept affection?

STAY WITH ME, DON'T LET ME GO

CAUSE I CAN'T BE WITHOUT YOU

She closed the book, and looked out her window at the green leaves and trees of the forest. Singing softly to herself, and feeling the mark with her fingers gently.

JUST STAY WITH, HOLD ME CLOSE

BECAUSE I'VE BUILT MY WORLD AROUND YOU

AND I DON'T WANNA KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE WITHOUT YOU

SO STAY WITH ME, JUST STAY WITH ME

Without her knowing, the mark on her neck began to change shape. It looked as if the small tree was wilting, it's color becoming ever so slightly duller.

I'VE SEARCHED MY HEART OVER SO MANY MANY TIMES

NO, YOU AND I IS LIKE NO STARS TO LIGHT THE SKY AT NIGHT

OUR PICTURE HANGS UP TO REMIND ME OF THE DAYS

YOU PROMISED ME WE'D ALWAYS BE AND NEVER GO AWAY

THAT'S WHY I NEED YOU TO STAY

Poppy wondered to herself. 'Should I tell Branch about the marks? Does he already know?' she spotted him outside of her window, walking along the edge of the village.

STAY WITH ME, DON'T LET ME GO

CAUSE I CAN'T BE WITHOUT YOU

He looked so miserable, frowning to himself and casting nervous glances all over the place. Poppy leaned out her window, resting her chin on her hand and sadly finished her song.

JUST STAY WITH, HOLD ME CLOSE

BECAUSE I'VE BUILT MY WORLD AROUND YOU

AND I DON'T WANNA KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE WITHOUT YOU

SO STAY WITH ME, JUST STAY WITH ME

DON'T LEAVE

SO I STAY WAITING IN THE DARK

"Oh Branch… what am I going to do?" About three days later Branch was beginning get worried, having not seen Poppy in almost three days straight. She never left him alone this long, and he was starting to think something was wrong. So here he found himself, at Poppy's doorstep with no idea what he was going to say. He reached up, his hands shaking ever so slightly, and knocked on the pod. Branch stood there for a moment, when the pod peeled open to reveal a frizzy haired Poppy wearing a light pink night jumper. She looked at him with her eyes half closed with sleepiness, but they shot open when she realized who was standing in front of her. "BRANCH!?" She shrieked in surprise, blushing like mad with embarrassment.

Branch was about to say something but then the pod snapped shut, knocking him on his butt. Inside Poppy was scrambling to fix her hair and find a normal dress, tripping over herself more than once. Once she was done she ran over to the door, and it peeled back and she leaned against the wall trying to look slick. "Oh head Branch! What brings you here?" She asked nonchalantly, giving him a cheesy smile. Branch stood there tapping his foot, and rolled his eyes. "Look Poppy I'm here because I hadn't seen you in a couple of days, I was a bit worried something was wrong. But I see everything is fine."

He said getting ready to leave, Poppy saw him turn away and sighed. Then something happened. In the pit of his stomach Branch felt disappointment, in himself? He turned around and saw Poppy with her back to him, her head low and shoulders low. Then he saw it! A small dark pink mark on the back of her neck, in the shape of a small sapling. He raised a brow at this, but remembered something his grandma said. "One day Branch you'll find someone else with that same mark, and when you do, well… let's just say that they're going to be very special to you." Branch reached up to his left shoulder, and felt the blue mark that had been there for as long as he could remember. It was the only thing on him that stayed colorful, the only part of him that wasn't touched by grey on that fateful day.

He then said something that surprised both of them. "If you want to hang out like I said, I'm not really doing anything right now." Poppy felt a smile spreading across her face, and thought to herself. 'He was worried about me? Branch, the village grump who almost constantly tells me to leave him alone, was worried about me when I actually did leave him alone? I must be dreaming. I've dreamed of weirder things, like that time with the popsicles raining from the sky, the walls oozing glitter, the squirrels taking over the world, and quite a few more. Branch suddenly showing he cares is right up there with those, but still none of those things was Branch actually being...kinda sweet.' Poppy was almost certain she was dreaming at this point until suddenly she was snapped out of her musing, "Um hello? Earth to Poppy? I didn't come here to stand on your porch all day!"

Branch's irritated voice woke her up sharply from her thoughts. 'Yeah nevermind, that is definitely Branch.' Poppy thought as she rushed to come up with a suitable answer that wouldn't send Branch back to his bunker. Just as Branch turned to leave Poppy jumped forward and caught his shoulder making him come to a sudden stop. "I've been having, uh… issues!" Branch raised an eyebrow, but kept listening. "I Just figured you were too busy, sorry if I worried you. If you want to hang out there's a festival going on. You know the one that the village throws every year for celebrating our freedom?"

Branch looked a bit uncomfortable, pulling away a bit. "Gee Poppy, I… I don't know, I'm not sure I'm comfortable going to a party." Poppy took both his hands in hers, making him blush from the close contact. "No, no Branch it's not a party! It's a festival! It uh… um… Please Branch?" Branch folded his arms, and frowned at her. "I'm sorry Poppy, but there's no way I'm going to that Festival! That's Final!" Branch said, but then he saw her face. Her eyes were pleading and pathetic. "No." He said, she put her hands together begging him to go. "NO Poppy!" then she pouted her lip out, and he let out a long sigh.

At the festival Branch stood next to Poppy, looking very annoyed. But he took a deep breath, and thought to himself. 'You're doing this for Poppy.' he looked at her beaming face and asked. "So what first?" Poppy thought for a moment, then pointed to the Carousel. Almost immediately Branch's face went stormy, "Are you kidding me? Poppy, that's a little kids ride." But Poppy wasn't listening as she pulled him by the arm over to the ride. Through the line of kids waiting she could see the ride. Specially carved animal and bug figures attached to wood stakes that were in a circle on a platform of wood that spins when you push it.

Ever since she was a little kid this had always been her favorite ride! Meanwhile at her side Branch was looking at the ride with trepidation. What if it were to break from all the weight on it? It was really old after all. That would be a lot of injured kids not to mention an injured Poppy. He was pulled out of his worried mental ramble when it was time to let on the next round of kids. Of course Poppy immediately started pulling on his arm to get him to move quicker. Branch stayed firmly planted where he stood. There was no way, no way at all, nothing that Poppy could do that would make him get on that death trap! It was coming to Branch's attention that he may have a small weakness for Poppy.

He shifted awkwardly on top of the fake bug that he was sitting on with Poppy sitting behind him holding on around his middle. Everytime she would squeeze he would become very uncomfortable and start shifting until she loosened her arms a bit. He was already nervous enough, he didn't need her feeling his pudge and running away in disgust. Little did Branch know that Poppy already knew that he had a bit of a pudge but she actually loved squeezing him because of it. In her mind it was better to have some because who wanted to cuddle with sharp bony limbs? Not her that's for sure!

No, she was definitely happy with a squishier cuddle partner, or hug partner, or ...really anyone she guessed. It never even crossed Poppy's mind as it might be something that someone wouldn't find attractive. To her it just meant that you were eating well and feeling your best. So she continued her happy cuddling for the time she was allowed, little did Branch know that while yes this was her favorite ride she had only really wanted to go on it because she knew she would get to hang onto Branch. It was rare he let her hug him so she'd take every opportunity she could to get her hugs in.

She was dismayed as she felt the ride slow down meaning it was almost time to release Branch. Once the ride came to a complete stop Poppy went to slide off only for Branch to do so first and offer her a hand down. Shocked, but very pleased Poppy flushed a bit and accepted his help. Instead of taking her hand and helping her down like she was expecting, Branch gently grabbed her around her waist and lifted her off the bug and onto the ground. Now thoroughly flustered, Poppy looked around for something to divert her attention to. Her eyes landed on a single stall with a menagerie of prizes ranging big to small.

And one of the very top prizes was a beautiful guitar. Beautifully made with only the best wood and strings. The second her eye caught the guitar Poppy felt delighted and forgot her previous awkwardness. She had always wanted that kind of guitar! All she had was a cow bell. Branch, noticing that her attention was elsewhere, looked to find what had snared her focus so deeply. When he saw the guitar and the look of longing in her eyes he knew what he was going to do. Poppy pulled herself out of her mental drooling over the guitar and turned to walk away only to have Branch pull her towards the booth.

Poppy looked up at Branch questioningly only to get a grunt in response. As he pulled her up to stand in front of the booth, which she could now see was a ball toss, and the troll running it was none other than Creek. The purple troll had always been like a brother to Poppy, always there for her in her time of need. So she was glad to see him, Branch however was less than thrilled. "Hello Poppy! Good to see you, and Branch? Can't say I expected to see you here mate, but I guess it's good you're getting fresh air." Poppy saw Branch getting irritated and cut in. "Branch and I are just hanging out, I was feeling a bit down so he offered to take me." She said happily, but if Branch recalled correctly she begged him to go.

Creek looked between the two, pretty sceptical about the situation and said. "Poppy if you're down you can always talk to me, I'm not sure Branch is the best role model when it comes to happiness." Branch scowled at the purple troll, but before he could let loose a string of insults Poppy spoke up. "But I wanted to spend time with Branch, I already know I can always talk to you." Branch looked surprised at her comment, he knew she always asked to hang out but the way she said it sounded different. Maybe it was just his imagination but it made him want to get her that guitar even more. "Well you're free to spend your time as you please, what can I do for you." Branch pointed to the instrument, and said. "How much for the guitar?"

Creek chuckled and raised a brow at him. "Never pegged you for a music lover Branch, I'm assuming it's for Poppy? Well as much as I'd like to give it to ya luv the laws of the festival say you have to win a perfect game to win that, that's ten balls in the 100 slot." Branch narrowed his eyes and said. "Ten balls." creek smiled smugly and put ten balls on the counter. "Good luck, cheers mate." Branch mumbled Creek's words under his breath mockingly and picked up the first ball, he took aim and chucked it directly into the 100 hole. Creek looked somewhat impressed, but nowhere near blown away.

Branch was gonna change that. He repeated this action four more times, wiping the smug grin off of Creek's face. "Pretty good mate, but there's still five left!" Branch laughed, picking up the sixth ball. He saw Poppy beaming at him from the corner of his eye, and he didn't want to disappoint her. He made the next few shot with relative ease, making Creek somewhat upset. He couldn't let Branch make a fool of him, he had to do something! Once Branch finishes his 9th perfect throw he can hear Poppy in the background cheering him on and pride glows in his chest as he moves to pick up his last ball only to hear a sound that froze his blood in his veins.

"Ahhhh! CRASH!" Branch whirled around only to see Poppy on the ground with Creek looking shocked a few feet away with the massive pedestal that the prize sat on knocked over in between them. He didn't have time to interrogate Creek because his attention was completely captivated by Poppy who was now holding her leg from pain. A strangled sound came from Poppy which snapped Branch into action, completely forgetting the challenge he rushed over and kneeled by Poppy's side as he examined the scratch that covered a good 5 inches of her leg. It wasn't deep thank goodness but it was long and it needed to be looked after.

It wasn't life threatening by any means though. Branch turned to Poppy with as calm of a voice as he could explained, "It's not too serious as it's not deep it's just really long. I've got some bandages that I can wrap your leg in until we get back to my bunker and I can wrap it properly." As he was saying this he removed some makeshift bandages from his hair and started to gently wrap her injury. It would need to be cleaned but that would have to be done tomorrow. Poppy looks up at him as her worry lessens with Branch's reassurance only to fix her face into a determined mask and proclaim, "Okay if it's not that bad then you can take your last shot real quick." Branch reeled back in shock.

'She couldn't be saying what he thought she was saying right? She was just injured maybe it was more serious than he thought and it was affecting her mind?' But before Branch could go about checking how mentally there she was, a redundant task he would later think, Poppy puts her hands on his arm which is trying to sneak underneath her to pull her up and says with steel in her tone. "Branch, I know that doing this means something to you. You're only one away! It would be a waste if you didn't just finish your last throw. Besides you said that I'm not in any danger and I believe you. So, Please?" She added her best pleading eyes just to cinch the deal.

Branch took one look into those eyes and groaned in defeat. He looked over at the booth and slowly stood up but only after asking one last time, "Are you sure? If you're in any pain we can just leave. It doesn't mean enough to me to make you suffer through pain during it." Poppy just smiled at his worrying, secretly pleased that he was so worried over her, and shooed him on. "I'll be fine for a few more minutes. Besides, I'm not sure if I'll ever get you out again so I want to see you in all your glory in action while I have the chance!" Branch flushed an odd deep grey and quickly turned away before she could see the warmth that was undoubtedly blooming in his eyes for her.

He approaches the booth again and picks up the last ball. He knows it won't be difficult for him but for some reason it seems quite a bit more important now that he wins that guitar for Poppy. He doesn't know if it was because he felt bad that she was hurt or to shove it into Creek's face that he was superior in this. But there was a little voice in the back of his mind that told him it wasn't either of those. The answer was quite simply that Poppy said she wanted to see him at his best, doing his best so it was quite simple really. She wanted to see him win? He'd win. End of discussion.

He had spent years watching his crush from a distance thinking there was absolutely no way she'd take an interest in him with guys like Creek around her constantly, guys who have more muscles, or were leaner, or were happier. And now if he had been reading the situation right, he might just have a chance with the one he had sought after for years. His crush just blatantly told him that she wanted to see what the best he could do was. It felt like this was his chance to prove something to her. He wouldn't accept anything less from himself but his absolute best. As he predicted he nailed the last throw as he had the nine before it.

Without even giving Creek another look he grabbed the guitar and walked over to Poppy and hey if there was an extra jump to his step when he saw her practically beaming at him well that was no one else's business but his own...And maybe Poppy's. He came to a halt in front of her, the smile on her face making pride bloom all throughout his chest, knowing that he had caused it made it so much better for some reason. With Poppy looking at him like that, like the simple game he just won made him the single most amazing thing she had ever seen, Branch felt like he could take on anything and win just as long as she kept smiling at him like that.

Handing off the guitar to Poppy, Branch helped her to stand only after a failed attempt to walk he just sighed and picked her up. Poppy, meanwhile, is shocked straight down to her core. Her crush and soulmate, not that he knew that bit, carrying her in what was considered a newlywed style while obviously worried about her well being almost made her teenage heart and brain explode from pure happiness. It took everything she had to stop her heart from melting into the warmest goo and sliding into her stomach. Not only had he gone with her to the festival, he had ridden a ride with her, won her a prize, and showed great amounts of worry over her all in one day.

Poppy was over the moon with joy. Now she was sure that there could be something between them, it wouldn't be easy but nothing that was worth it ever was and oh Branch was worth every trial and every hardship. Now she just had to convince him that she was too. As Branch went to leave, having left Creek in the dust the minute the opportunity arose, he passed the water lily pond where couples would sit on a lily and watch the glitter fireworks explode over the water. Once Poppy saw the pond she blushed at the mental image of her and Branch sitting on one of the lilies while watching the fireworks. Branch looked down when Poppy was silent for so long only to see her looking with longing eyes toward the pond. Quickly thinking over the pros and cons Branch looked down at Poppy and hesitantly asked, "Would you like to float on a lily? That bandage should hold for a while longer."

Poppy's head snapped up to look at him and after a few minute sof shocked, open mouthed staring from Poppy, Branch started to get worried he had misread the situation, 'Of course you misread it you idiot! Why would she want to go on one with you? Just because she is hanging out with me doesn't mean that she likes me like that! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why would she want someone like you when she could have someone like Creek!? You're just an insensitive, grey, fa-' His despairing thoughts were interrupted by two pink arms wrapping around his neck. He looked down to see Poppy and from this position he could just see her mark on her neck. It appears to have grown a few inches since he had seen it last. For some reason that of all things reassured him the most. He relaxed as he felt Poppy pull back from the hug and look directly into his eyes, "Please? I'd love to watch the fireworks with you!"

As if Branch could say no to that look. As he had learned earlier he was quite powerless to it. So the next thing he knew he had a beaming Poppy sitting on a water lily, leaned against him so she wouldn't put too much strain on her leg. As the fireworks started he watched the colors play across her face as her eyes practically sparkled with mirth a thought snuck into his mind, 'I can get use to this.' for this one moment he let go of the fact that fireworks were a horrible idea, and could possibly attract the attention of a began. Poppy sighed dreamily drawing his attention to her beautiful face, watching the bright colors reflect off her gorgeous eyes. "Isn't it beautiful?" She asked wistfully, he just stared at her and mumbled. "Yeah… beautiful."

Poppy looked at him and the made eye contact, and they held said eye contact for about ten seconds before the both turned away. Just then a raindrop splashed on top of Poppy's head, causing both of them to look up. The rain continued getting heavier, making all the trolls head for their homes. Branch extended his hair to make an umbrella to keep them dry as he paddled back to shore. He then scooped up Poppy and started carrying her home. As they walked through the village, Poppy rested her head on his chest hearing his heartbeat match the tempo of the raindrops. When they finally reached Poppy's pod she was half asleep, so Branch had to wake her up.

"Um Poppy, could you get the door? My hands are a bit full." Poppy nodded and peeled the petal back, and they stepped in closing the door behind them. Branch wen over to the bed and set her down. He then wrung out his hair and pulled out the remaining gauze, removing her old bandages and applying new ones. As he wrapped fresh gauze around her leg Poppy remained silent, Branch also choosing not to say anything. She just watched as he tenderly treated her injury, thinking about the night she just had.

'I've never seen this side of him before, maybe I'm not doomed to be in a one-sided love forever.' just then Branch tied off the wrappings, and stood up next to her bed. "Well I should really be going, sorry about your leg again." He said rubbing the back of his neck, he turned to leave but Poppy grabbed his hand. "Wait!" She said somewhat desperately, thinking as fast as she could. 'I can't let him leave, I have to say something! But what do I say?! Oh hey, lovely evening, I think we're meant for each other?!' Branch was a little confused, as she stared at him with her mouth hanging open like she was about to say something.

"Yes?" He asked somewhat concerned. 'If I tell him we're soulmates will that drive him away? I can barely give him a hug without him freaking out! No! He has a right to know!' she grasped his hand, looking him straight in the eyes. "Branch I…" but at the last second she faltered. "I… likeyoubutmorethanafriendkindoflike!" She word vomited all at once, and Branch was confused. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand that." Poppy took a deep breath and said. "I have a crush on you…" hanging her head in embarrassment, Branch took a few steps back in surprise.

"You do?" He asked with a hint of hope in his voice, stepping closer to her now. Poppy nodded sadly, almost red she was blushing so hard. "Yeah, I wanted to tell you earlier… but you didn't seem interested, I mean hello! Is it me you're looking for? I don't think so…" but then he kneeled next to the bed, entwining his fingers with hers. She looked up at him in surprise, and he said. "Poppy, I've had a crush on you for a while. I just thought you'd want someone less… grey and pudgy." Poppy got a sad smile on her face, putting a hand on his cheek. "Oh Branch, I don't care about all that… Can I hug you?"

Branch nodded and let her wrap her arms around him, but he didn't hug her back either. "Branch I care about you, and I want you to trust me. I know it's hard for you to trust people, so I won't push… too much." Branch chuckled softly, and said. "Poppy I have boundaries, so if we're going to be together we're going to need some rules okay?" Poppy nodded excitedly pulling back from the hug, and Branch said. "For starters, no PDA, only one hug per day and no touching in public! No asking about why I'm Grey, no asking me to dance, and no asking me to sing." Poppy frowned.

"Not sure I can keep all of those rules, fair warning." Branch shook his head and said. "I know you can't, but try your best please?" She saluted him and said. "You got it sweetheart!" Branch closed his eyes and groaned. "That's another thing, no pet names. None of that." Poppy nuzzled his cheek and said teasingly. "Aw come on Branchy Boo!" Branch narrowed his eyes. "We haven't even been dating twenty minutes and you're already pushing your luck." Poppy laughed and pulled him close, and unknown to them a small flower bloomed on each of their marks and the tree grew in size.

Branch thought to himself. 'Wow, it's like my whole life is changing. And it all happened on a Tuesday.'


	3. Dreaming of Reality

When Branch woke the next morning he sat up and glanced around at his surroundings, thinking to himself. 'Was it just a dream?' he stood up and stretched his arms, and groaning from discomfort. He walked over to the mirror and looked at himself, not particularly liking what he saw. Despite constant exercise he still was roundish in the middle, and he hated it. Then there was his grey complexion, and coarse black hair.

He sighed at the frowning face before him, and he grumbled. "Of course it was a dream, how could someone as beautiful as her like me?" He growled and shoved the mirror off the dresser, the glass shattering on the floor. He walked back over to his bed and sat down, resting his head in his hands. He let out a small sob and felt tears at the corners of his eyes, ashamed of his outward appearance. Meanwhile Poppy was just waking up, but something was strange about this morning. She had tears running down her face and she felt a horrible feeling in her gut, like she was upset about something she didn't remember.

Getting up she went to the mirror, checking if something was in her eyes. But she saw nothing there, and wondered why this was happening. But then she noticed a slight sting in her leg, finding it all bandaged up. Then she remembered that last night, and she was suddenly overwhelmed with joy. Wanting nothing more than to go and find her new boyfriend and shower him with affection, she ran to her wardrobe to find something fun but alluring. As Branch finished crying he felt strange, like there was a brightness in the pit of his stomach.

He didn't know where this random uplifting feeling came from, but it motivated him to go and do his daily work out. So he walked through his bunker to a small section with exercise equipment. Choosing to work on his core he started with push-ups, opting to do about 50 with his arms and 50 with his hair.

Exercise always helped him work out his emotions, working off his sadness and frustrations. It actually took a lot to keep up his stone faced demeanor, it was hard work. Next he did sit-ups, going for 80 of them. This process went on for about an hour, but he still felt sad about his situation with Poppy. But he had work to do, so he did what he always did and buried his feelings and ignored them.

So he dragged his feet as he walked to the lift, flipping the switch and ascending to the ground level. He grabbed a bag to harvest food in and headed out the door. Walking along an old trail that lead to a small pond that was rich in plant life, home to many different kinds of berries, Branch had a list of different plants he needed for various uses around his bunker. Aloe could be made into a salve for injuries, obviously one he made sure he was always stocked in, algae was good for a cushion for the floor to make it softer to walk on in replacement of a rug, not to mention the many types of berries and other food sources that he made sure to keep stocked at all times in his home as an emergency stash.

He arrived at his destination and looked around the clearing, seeing the algae he needed in plentiful amounts floating on the top of the pond. He decided to get the algae first since it was the easiest to collect. As Branch slowly moved into the shallow waters, careful not to slip on the smooth sheet of rock underneath his feet, he noticed his reflection in the water and scowled at it.

Usually he didn't think of his physical appearance, too depressing and he tended to get less done when he thought about it, but he couldn't take his mind off of it since his dream last night of Poppy not just agreeing to date him, but confessing to him! Him of all Trolls! Yeah like that would happen anywhere but his dreams. His self deprecating thoughts were interrupted by a cheery voice floating over his shoulder from seemingly out of nowhere. "Hey, how'd you do that?" Not hearing anyone walk up behind him, Branch spun around startled at the sudden voice.

Branch felt himself freeze up, for there stood Poppy wearing a deep blue dress. As if it's not enough that she had to act so friendly after last night's dream but she had to show up looking as if she was dressing up to go meet someone for a date as well. His mind caught up to her question and answered, "Do What?" Poppy smiled in such a way that made Branch feel as if he was about to enter into a very risky situation that was either going to end well for him or disastrously. Once he heard her answer he knew for sure that it was the second. "How'd you look so good just by bending down to gather algae? I thought nothing could make that look hot but I guess I was wrong."

Her flirting comment confused and flustered Branch into taking a thoughtless step back and his foot hit nothing but slippery rock. The next thing he knew he was falling into cold water which was good news for his cheeks which were flaming up along with his ears. Poppy would have undoubtedly noticed, she noticed everything he didn't want her to. As he resurfaced with much cooler cheeks, thankfully, he looked incredulously at Poppy not believing what he had thought she had said, but his mind had to be playing tricks on him.

Then she opened her mouth and suddenly Branch wasn't so sure if he wasn't still dreaming or if he had hit his head when he fell into the water and was hallucinating. "Wow, if being hot is a crime then you are sooo guilty as charged." Poppy was grinning as she stared directly at his soaked chest which now had his vest stuck to it from the water. It was at that point that he decided that if he was dreaming or hallucinating he didn't want to go back to consciousness. Then where her eyes were staring caught his attention and he immediately crossed his arms to hide his stomach pudge and ducked lower in the water.

"Awww my view was taken away. Oh well I guess I'll have more opportunities now that we are dating." And that was the moment Branch's poor mind had enough and did an emergency shutdown thanks to overheating malfunctioning. The last thing he remembered from his bizarre dream was Poppy's smile falling off her face and being replaced by a worried and curious frown and then everything was black. Poppy did NOT expect Branch to react to her flirting like that, she had been hoping for a little flustered, a blush if she was lucky.

Passing out while looking like he had seen a ghost...Not really what she had wanted when she set out with this idea. All her previous thoughts were wiped away when she saw Branch start to sink into the pond. Poppy fell into full panic mode as she jumped forward to catch his arms to pull him out before he drowned while he was unconscious. Once she had a good hold on him she pulled until Branch was safely on the shore a few feet from the water. After checking him over to make sure he was okay Poppy sat next to him to debate her options.

1\. She could try to move him back to his bunker. She didn't think she was strong enough to carry him back and dragging him would definitely injure him.

2\. She could try to wake him up. This so far was looking the most promising but if she did then he would definitely be mad that she made him fall back into the water and ruin all the work he had gotten done.

3\. She could go back to the village and get help to drag him back to his bunker….Yeah he might kill her for that one. So it was a definite no go.  
As Poppy was thinking over her options she saw a piece of paper sitting next to Branch's backpack. Curious, she picked it up to find that it was a list of things that Branch needed to get. That's when a brilliant idea struck Poppy, she could collect all of the stuff for Branch and he wouldn't get angry at her! At least it would work for a peace offering in the worst case scenario. With her mind set on a plan of action Poppy swiftly stood up and turned to check on Branch one last time before she started her list. He was far enough away from the water that she could leave him where he was without worrying about him drowning.

As she went to start she saw him shiver, and it clicked in Poppy's head that he had fallen into cold water and was now sitting in his soaked clothes. Looking at it like that he was bound to be cold, so Poppy went to find a big leaf to cover him with that way he'd be guarded against the wind, she didn't think he'd appreciate her removing his clothes so this is the best she could do. Thinking about it Poppy was starting to feel guilty since it had been her fault he had fallen into the water and gotten drenched, but besides getting something to cover him she didn't know what to do… As she was thinking her head turned to watch the pond and her sight landed on the algae, a massive smile formed on her face when a plan started in her mind.

When Branch regained consciousness he thought he was in his bed and everything that he remembered was a dream, it would make sense since he was laying on a soft layer and had what felt like a blanket over him. However, there was one thing that didn't quite fit into that scenario. He was soaking wet, which if he had taken a bath at the pond the night before would make sense as well, but he was absolutely certain tomorrow was his bath day.

Now confused as to where he was if not home, Branch opened his eyes and sat up to look around. He recognised his surroundings almost immediately, he was at the pond where he was in his dream collecting supplies… Was it a dream? If it was a dream then why was he here? It had to be a dream, Poppy wouldn't blatantly flirt with him like that if it weren't and she had said they were dating! A warm feeling spread through his chest but he stomped it out before it could get to far.

'It was just a dream don't get too excited.' As he shifted to get up, still confused as to why he was here he felt the soft substance underneath his hands. Looking down he saw a layer of algae underneath him and on a second look his blanket was a massive leaf. He obviously hadn't made them but someone had and it had been while he was unconscious. Who would care enough about him to make a makeshift bed just so he could be comfortable?

His answer was in the form of a soft humming coming from a few yards away, a familiar humming that made his ears perk immediately and start swiveling trying to find which direction it came from. Branch pulled himself to his feet and followed the sound only to come across a sight that almost made his heart combust from beating too fast. There stood Poppy knee deep in water slowly and carefully gathering algae, he watched in shock as she collected an armload and then carefully made her way back to the shore where he now noticed his backpack was and it looked to be full of the different plants on his list.

If he had to guess by how the water was dripping off of her she slipped on the sheet of rock at least once. Poppy seemed to be satisfied with her collection and hefted herself out of the pond, once steady on land again she picked up the now full pack and turned only to lock eyes with Branch. The minute their eyes met Poppy hit him with a beaming smile and proceeded to bounce over to him. Branch moved to take a startled step back, still confused on what was a dream and what wasn't. Poppy stopped a few inches in front of him and, before he could react, threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

Not expecting that, Branch stiffened up and started trying to pry her off him. "How many times do I have to tell you not to hug me before you actually don't?" Hearing Branch's irritated voice, Poppy pulled back with obvious confusion. "Yesterday you said I could have one hug per day but no more. I haven't hugged you yet today and if I'm only going to get one per day then I'm not going to waste a single one!" Branch's irritated look vanished as he recalled a conversation where he said that, but it had been in his dream…

Wait, if Poppy was here collecting the things off his list and he hadn't been dreaming before then she was the one who made him the bed and she had been flirting with him. She had told him after her flirting before he passed out that they were dating which means that it wasn't a dream?! Feeling lightheaded Branch slid into a sitting position while his mind wrapped itself around that information, not noticing a panicking Poppy trying to talk to him.

If it wasn't a dream then his supposed dream of last night was actually real which means that yes he had told her she could have one hug per day because he figured that he should at least give her that if they were dating. His mind was holding up on that fact though, they were dating. He was dating Princess Poppy. He was snapped out of his thought by that exact person pinching him hard on his arm. "Ow!" As he jumped back from Poppy he looked up ready to rip into her only to stop at the look of worry on her face. If that hadn't been enough to stop him her next words did.

"What's wrong? You suddenly zoned out! I tried talking to you but you weren't responding. Are you okay? Are you mad? I'm sorry that I didn't bring you back to your bunker but I couldn't lift you and I didn't want to drag you. I didn't think you'd want me to get someone from the village to help either. So I made a kind of bed until you woke up and could move yourself. Was I wrong?" Branch rushed to reassure her, "It's fine. I don't expect you to be able to lift me especially as a dead weight. Thank you for making the bed it was very comfortable."

Then a thought occurred to Branch and he blurted out, "Wait, why were you flirting with me earlier! I was so shocked that I fell back into the water. You shouldn't say things you don't mean like that." Poppy tilted her head to the side in confusion, "What do you mean why did I flirt with you? We're dating I can do that now. I've been wanting to for a long time but I figured that you would get mad if I did. Yeah I didn't expect you to pass out on me, that was a surprise for both of us. And what do you mean, of course I meant those things! Have you seen yourself? You're gorgeous!"

Branch was now flushing a darker greyish purple and stumbling trying to come up with something to say. "I looked in a mirror this morning and I don't see it. I'm not gorgeous, I'm grey, and that's not even getting into the scars I have from living near the forest or my stomach. You must be either joking or blind." Poppy looked both hurt and offended, "Hey! You're the one who is blind, because I don't see anything wrong when I look at you and out of the two of us I'm the one with an eye for aesthetics not you! What about your stomach is wrong? I think it's cute and it's comfier to cuddle with someone who has some cushion instead of bony limbs or hard muscle!"

Branch stared into Poppy's eyes to look for a hint that she wasn't telling the truth. After searching for a minute he came to the shocking conclusion that she truly believed what she said. There was no hint of laughter or deception in her eyes. Branch took a shocked step back as that sank into his mind, here stood the princess whom he had admired for years basically telling him that she thought all of the things he disliked about himself were not only normal, but admirable?

He had no words for his feelings in that moment: shock, confusion, disbelief, and just a small spark of hope. As Branch stood before his princess he had no words to return to her, no smooth comeback, no compliment to give back. His mind still trying to wade through the thick fog of disbelief that her words had spawned, that things that he had agonized over in the past were actually things that she found attractive. Poppy, seeing that he was having a difficult time processing what she said took matters into her own hands.

Branch was broken out of his repetitive disbelieving thoughts by the feel of slim arms wrapping tightly around his stomach, making him jump in shock and try to struggle out of Poppy's hold. After desperately squirming for a few minutes he gave up with an exhausted sigh, choosing instead to close his eyes tightly and keep himself tense until she released him. Poppy felt him stop moving and pulled her head back from its previous spot resting on his shoulder to look at his face.

What she saw wasn't exactly encouraging, he had his eyes squeezed shut and refused to look at her. Poppy thought hard for a way to make him see that she meant everything she said, she felt the light bulb flash over her head when a brilliant idea came to her. Branch felt Poppy's arm loosen around him and relaxed a bit, thinking that she was giving up and letting him go, only to stiffen again when he was suddenly spun around to face her.

He kept his eyes firmly shut only to nearly have them pop out of his head in shock at her next action. Poppy noticed that his stomach seemed to be what he was most self conscious about so that should be where she focused her attention. She loosened one of her arms from her hug to slide it across his stomach, exploring the squishy and soft plain. She really didn't understand why he didn't like it, she thought it was cute but maybe it was different for guys.

She hesitated a second to make sure he was okay with her doing this, Poppy knew he wasn't a touchy troll so if he truly didn't want her to she would stop and try to come up with a different approach. When she only received silence she took it as a go ahead, if Branch had truly disagreed he would push her away, she had loosened her arms to make sure that if he wanted to be released he could easily pull away. She ran her hand slowly across his pudge, kneading her thumb into it as she moved her hand around from the front to the back, making sure to leave not a single inch without it's share of attention.

Branch meanwhile was torn between being terrified she would come to her senses and run in disgust and thoroughly enjoying what she was doing and leaning into her. His choice was made for him when she kneaded a spot on his back that had been hurting fiercely for the last week. The second she worked the knot in his spine out any resistance he might have put up disappeared only to be left with a warm contentment. Branch's previously warring mind now was in a hazy state that made panicking extremely difficult.

In fact it made thinking at all difficult, suddenly he couldn't remember why he had struggled so much. His mind was screaming something at him that was probably important but for the life of him he couldn't figure it out. Slowly Branch remembered why he hadn't wanted Poppy touching him but he couldn't understand his own reasoning right now. He settled on if she hadn't run away from it yet then she wouldn't so he was allowed to relax and enjoy it even if only for a few minutes.

Poppy was ecstatic that her approach seemed to have worked. Branch was resting almost all of his weight back onto her and he was as relaxed as she had ever seen him. She beamed as she slowly slid them both to ground when holding up his weight became tiring, and she scooted until they were resting against a tree nearby. She looked down at her lap to see Branch's eyes open and half lidded as if he was fighting off sleep. It took everything in Poppy not to squeal and go find a camera because that look was by far the cutest thing she had ever seen, but alas she didn't want to disturb his new sleepy state so she settled for mentally capturing every detail to think on later.

She stopped moving her hands and rested them on his stomach with his back sitting against her chest while they both reclined against the tree. Hearing a soft sound from Branch she looked down only to find his eyes closed again, his head rolled back onto her shoulder, and small snores coming out of his mouth. As much as she would love to sit there for the rest of the day and just hold him since she doubted she would have another chance to do so for a long while she knew that if he fell into a heavy sleep then there was no way she could move him.

So with great reluctance she nuzzled her nose against his face in an attempt to wake him up gently. Thankfully he wasn't too deep into sleep so it was enough to make him crack his eyes open and look up at her, obviously questioning what she needed him awake for. Again Poppy found herself fighting off a squeal and the urge to go find a camera but now that Branch was waking up he was bound to go back to his normal grumpy self any minute so she needed to soak in as much as she could before that happened.

Sure enough it was only another minute before the hazy look cleared out of his eyes and comprehension dawned as to exactly what position they were in and where they were at the moment. Just as she predicted the second Branch was awake he sprang up from their sudden cuddle time and spun around to face her, the thing she hadn't thought of was how embarrassed he was. His face was flushed a deeper grey that made it obvious that he was blushing furiously, it was another look she wish she had a camera for blushing Branch was adorable.

"So do you believe me now or do I need to do that again? I'd be more than happy to keep going until you're convinced." Branch jumped back at her question, "Don't you dare! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? We are in the middle of a forest of monsters! What if one had seen us? I was in no state of mind to fight! But did you think of that? No! You were only concerned with your stupid hug time!" Poppy was slightly hurt about what he said, but she had expected his reaction so she was already emotionally braced for it and instead replied, "So does that mean I can do it again in private when we're in a safe place?"

Branch's seething face melted into one of absolute disbelief. She seriously only caught that out of his entire rant?! Before he could say anything he'd regret Branch turned on heel and stormed off to his Bunker now with plenty to think about. As Poppy watched him leave she could only hope that something she had said or done had gotten through to him, and as hs e went to stand she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

Walking over to it, she burst out laughing once she identified it. Apparently in his embarrassed rush to leave Branch had forgotten his bag of plants. 'He probably won't want to see me right now so I'll just drop it off outside of his bunker.' Poppy chuckled as she hefted the heavy pack and started toward her paranoid boyfriend's bunker.


	4. I Wanna Know What Love Is

Love was in the air! Valentine's day had arrived and Poppy was so excited. This was her first Valentine's day with an actual boyfriend, and she planned to be as romantic as possible. But that wasn't even the best part, every year the trolls have a big Valentine dance party. She knew that expecting Branch to dance was a little far fetched, but a girl could dream couldn't she? 

She wore a beautiful rose red dress, and tied her hair up in a ponytail. Giving herself a once over in the mirror she set out to help set up for the party. And what a party it was going to be! The whole village was in a bustle trying to get everything ready for tonight, including her closest friends. Then she realized something that hadn't crossed her mind. 

Her friends didn't know about her and Branch, she hadn't told any of them. Creek kind of knew, but she hadn't made any official announcement whatsoever. The girls were going to be furious she didn't tell them right away, especially the twins! Well what better time to announce it than at the Valentine's day party? So she walked up to the snack pack and said. “Hey guys!” and they responded. “Hey poppy!” Satin and Chenille were the first to notice her outfit, walking up to her and gushing over how pretty it was.

“Well don't you-” one started. “-Look fancy today!” The other finished, and the others gathered around her to admire the beautiful dress. “Thanks guys, I figured I might as well look good for the dance tonight! It is after all the first year I'm going with someone other than my dad.” She said proudly, and all the girls collectively gasped. As did biggie. “Might we ask who this mystery troll is?” Suki asked and all the others crowded around her, except Creek. Creek had a sinking feeling he knew who this troll was, and he hoped he was wrong. 

Poppy blushed and pulled them all in closer. “Well okay, but you guys have to promise you won't freak out!” She said cautiously, making the snack pack confused but they nodded in agreement anyway. “Okay, so since the festival a few days ago I've been dating… Branch!” She said excitedly, but the snack pack gasped in surprise. “OH MY GAWD!” Smidge said clutching her light blue hair. Poppy looked around her group of friends curiously. “What?”

They all shared concerned glances and Suki came forward to speak. “Well, it's just he's always so… how do I say this?” She turned to the rest of them for help. “Rude?” Said Biggie. “Disrespectful?” Said Guy Diamond. “Terrible at fashion?” the twins said in unison. “Down in the dumps?” Said Cooper. “Short tempered?” Said Creek. “Mean!” Smidge finished and Fuzzbert nodded in agreement. Suki turned back to Poppy and shrugged. “Yeah, all that.” Poppy frowned and looked down sadly, her friends sure had lots of negative stuff to say about her boyfriend. Sure some of it was true, but not all of it.

“But you guys don't know him like I do, he can be so sweet and gentle at times. You just have to give him a chance! Please?” They all shared skeptical looks, especially Creek. He cared for Poppy genuinely, and the last thing he wanted was for her to get hurt. But she also had a point, and though he wasn't overly fond of the grey troll he wanted her to be happy. “Poppy's right!” He said to the others, getting confused looks from them. “She is the only one who actively spends time with Branch, she knows him better than we do! So I say we give the grey chap the benefit of the doubt!” 

Poppy hugged Creek from the side, he always knew what to say! The others were a little more convinced, and they started talking about how interesting it'll be to have Branch at a party. Then Poppy remembered, she had to make Branch a gift and actually tell him about the party. “Hey I gotta go, but I'll see you guys tonight!” and they all waved goodbye as she ran off. 

Poppy sat at her desk and said to herself. “Okay Poppy, it's your first Valentine's day with a boyfriend and you need to make a heartfelt gift to show Branch the strength of your feelings. You can do this!” She grabbed her scissors with a look of determination and grabbed some materials. Hours later Poppy sat slumped at her desk in defeat. “I can't do this! I'm a horrible girlfriend!” She cried out in desperation and hopelessness. 

She looked out her window to see it was midday, and the dance started at dusk! She felt an overwhelming amount of dread, causing her mark to wilt ever so slightly. Then she remembered something, a small trinket she had from a long time ago. It may not have been fancy or expensive, but it was worth as much as gold in sentimental value. Poppy only hoped that Branch would like it, so she quickly wrapped it up and headed off to Branch’s bunker. 

Branch knew what today was, he knew all too well it was one of the noisiest days of the year. The only two that were louder being liberation day and winter holiday. And Branch knew that if the bergens were going to attack, it was going to be on a noisy day like Valentine's day. Suddenly there was a loud repetitive banging on the entrance to his bunker. 'Speaking of noisy.’ he thought while heading up to the surface. 

Poppy waited anxiously for the boulder to roll away, looking at the gift that was haphazardly shoved behind a mushroom. She couldn't wait to see what he thought of it, then the door opened. “Poppy what a surprise.” He said in a dry humorless voice, but Poppy ignored that and hugged him. “Well it's good to see you!” She said genuinely. “I was wondering if you-”

“No.” He said, killing the smile that was on her face. “What?” Branch sighed and said. “You were about to ask if I'd accompany you to the annual Valentine's day dance party, and the answer is no.” Poppy felt her heart plummet upon hearing his harsh words. “But Branch, I thought-” she started but was interrupted again. “What? You thought I'd endanger myself by going to that loud obnoxious party, which could definitely attract the attention of a bergen! Yeah that's not happening, go if you want but I'm not doing it. You already talked me into going to that festival and look how that turned out!” 

He pointed to the bandage on her leg. “Has your leg even healed yet? I'm sorry Poppy but no force on Earth could make me go to that party.” And with that he walked back into his bunker, leaving Poppy broken hearted. The mark on her neck shriveled a lot, shrinking it a sizable amount. And in the pit of her stomach she felt something she had never felt before, something powerful.

Anger. “Fine!” She shouted, tears streaming down her face. “You're probably a lousy dancer anyway! I'll just go with my friends! Who… who needs you!” She then stomped away completely forgetting about her gift. As she stormed through the forest the flames of her anger began to burn out, just leaving her feeling distraught and sad. 

But she wouldn't cry, no she wouldn't ruin the holiday for everyone else. So she just wiped her tears and put on a smile, she could be happy for a few hours. Once she got there the party was in full swing, trolls Dancing and hugging. She saw some of her friends dancing over by the snack table and decided that's where she wanted to be.

Smidge who was running said snack table was having an argument Fuzzbert over who should run the stand. “No! You'll get hair in the food, besides I've already got dibs!” She said in frustration, but Fuzzbert made some mumbling sounds. Smidge gasped and put her hands on her hips. “How does that make you more qualified than me? That doesn't have anything to do with this situation!”

But Biggie interrupted their argument and shouted with joy. “Guys Poppy's here!” They all turned to see the smiling princess approaching them. Suki rushed forward and gave her a hug. “Hey!” she said excitedly, but then noticed the lack of a certain grey troll. Cautiously she asked. “Where's Branch?” Poppy looked down and took a deep breath through the nose, but her smile not faltering. “He's not coming.”

The snack pack all exchanged worried looks, not that they were surprised. They'd hoped they'd be wrong, but Branch acted just as they thought. Suki put her hands on Poppy's shoulders and said. “Oh Poppy, I'm sorry.” Poppy just shook her head. “It was foolish of me to think he'd come to a party, I just got my hopes up. But that doesn't mean we can't still have fun!” 

Guy Diamond stepped forward and said. “Yeah! Poppy would you care for a dance?” She nodded and walked to the dance floor. “I be there in a sec.” He turned to the snack pack quickly and whispered. “We're all in agreement that we're having a word with Branch tomorrow right?” They all nodded and he walked over to the floor and started dancing with Poppy, and singing.

DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!

JUST MOVE YOUR BODY!

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC!

SING, OH, EY, OH!

Guy moved his sparkling presence along the dance floor, Poppy following closely.

JUST MOVE THOSE LEFT FEET! 

GO AHEAD, GET CRAZY!

ANYONE CAN DO IT!

SING, OH, EY, OH!

He took her hand and twirled her about, striking a disco like pose.

SHOW THE WORLD YOU GOT THAT FIRE!

(FIRE!)

FEEL THE RHYTHM GETTING LOUDER!

SHOW THE ROOM WHAT YOU CAN DO! 

PROVE TO THEM YOU GOT THE MOVES!

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I FEEL BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING, YEAH, YEAH!

BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING, YEAH, YEAH!

AND WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER!

I BET YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU'RE DANCING, YEAH, YEAH!

Poppy laughed as Guy’s performance drew more attention from the trolls around them.

WHEN YOU FINALLY LET GO! 

AND YOU SLAY THAT SOLO!

'CAUSE YOU LISTEN TO THE MUSIC!

SING, OH, EY, OH!

She was getting more into the song now, busting out some of her more funky dance move.

'CAUSE YOU'RE CONFIDENT BABE! 

AND MAKE YOUR HIPS SWAY!

WE KNEW THAT YOU COULD DO IT!

SING, OH, EY, OH!

Guy Diamond and Poppy we're now the center of the crowd, everyone clapping to the beat while the danced about the floor.

SHOW THE WORLD YOU GOT THAT FIRE!

(FIRE!)

FEEL THE RHYTHM GETTING LOUDER!

SHOW THE ROOM WHAT YOU CAN DO! 

PROVE TO THEM YOU GOT THE MOVES!

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I FEEL BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING, YEAH, YEAH!

BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING, YEAH, YEAH!

AND WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER!

I BET YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU'RE DANCING, YEAH, YEAH!

Then Poppy began to sing along with him.

I FEEL BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING

I'M BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING, AYE, OH, EY, OH!

FEEL BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING, YEAH, YEAH!

DON'T YOU KNOW?

AND WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER!

I BET YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU'RE DANCING, YEAH, YEAH!

I FEEL BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING!

I'M BETTER WHEN I'M DANCING, HEY

FEEL BETTER WHEN I'M, YEAH, YEAH!

They struck a pose and everyone started cheering and clapping, the snack pack gathering around them and patting them on the back. Then DJ announced from the beetle-turntable. “Alright everybody, we're going to slow things down a bit with this next song. So it's time to grab someone special and meet them on the dance floor.” A lot of couples congregated on the dance floor, swaying slowly to the music.

Creek noticed her walking off the dance floor to make room for the other couples. He grabbed her shoulder and asked. “Poppy, Would you like to do this dance?” she smiled sweetly but gently shook her head, if she was going to slow dance with somebody she wanted it to be Branch. “No thanks Creek, I'm just gonna go sit down.” She said sadly, walking away and sitting on a mushroom.

I GOTTA TAKE A LITTLE TIME!

A LITTLE TIME TO THINK THINGS OVER!

I BETTER READ BETWEEN THE LINES!

IN CASE I NEED IT WHEN I'M OLDER!

Poppy watched as the whole village swayed slowly to the song, and she bobbed her head to the beat as she sat there with her hands folded.

NOW THIS MOUNTAIN I MUST CLIMB!

FEELS LIKE A WORLD UPON MY SHOULDERS!

I THROUGH THE CLOUDS I SEE LOVE SHINE!

IT KEEPS ME WARM AS LIFE GROWS COLDER!

She thought back to earlier, when he flat out rejected her. She had felt so hurt that she said some pretty mean thing. Branch was certainly being a bit of a jerk, of course! But for those words to come out of her mouth, was unnatural.

IN MY LIFE THERE'S BEEN HEARTACHE AND PAIN!

I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN FACE IT AGAIN!

CAN'T STOP NOW, I'VE TRAVELED SO FAR!

TO CHANGE THIS LONELY LIFE!

She then reached up and rubbed her neck, where her mark was. It had shrunk considerably, even though it didn’t tickle or hurt when it shrunk she could still tell, and she knew it wasn't a good thing.

I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS!

I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME!

I WANNA FEEL WHAT LOVE IS!

I KNOW YOU CAN SHOW ME!

She noticed a particular troll couple on the dance floor. How they held each other close, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.

I'M GONNA TAKE A LITTLE TIME!

A LITTLE TIME TO LOOK AROUND ME!

I'VE GOT NOWHERE LEFT TO HIDE!

IT LOOKS LIKE LOVE HAS FINALLY FOUND ME!

Was this really going to be the rest of her life? Spending all the special moments alone, yeah he was trying but it still hurt.

IN MY LIFE THERE'S BEEN HEARTACHE AND PAIN!

I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN FACE IT AGAIN!

I CAN'T STOP NOW, I'VE TRAVELED SO FAR!

TO CHANGE THIS LONELY LIFE!

Meanwhile deep in his bunker, Branch could hear the muffled music. He shook his head and continued sorting his things, but he deep inside him he felt… lonely. 

I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS!

I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME!

I WANNA FEEL WHAT LOVE IS!

I KNOW YOU CAN SHOW ME!

'I mean, the music isn't that loud. And Poppy’s up there… all alone.’ he thought to himself, the sinking guilty feeling in his gut making him sick. 

I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS!

I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME!

AND I WANNA FEEL, I WANT TO FEEL WHAT LOVE IS!

AND I KNOW, I KNOW YOU CAN SHOW ME!

LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE!

He covered his ears not wanting to hear anymore, but the music continued to taunt him. Reminding him that if a bergen did come… Poppy was still up there!

I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS, THE LOVE THAT YOU FEEL INSIDE!

I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME, AND I'M FEELING SO MUCH LOVE!

I WANNA FEEL WHAT LOVE IS, NO, YOU JUST CANNOT HIDE!

I KNOW YOU CAN SHOW ME, YEAH!

Branch dropped the items he was holding and ran to his lift, hopefully he wasn't too late. 

I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS, LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE!

I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME, I WANNA FEEL IT TOO!

I WANNA FEEL WHAT LOVE IS, I WANT TO FEEL IT TOO!

AND I KNOW AND I KNOW, I KNOW YOU CAN SHOW ME!

Peppy looked around at the party smiling at all the love being shown, but his smile died when he saw his daughter sitting sadly on a mushroom. Her hair drooping and one small tear gliding over her cheek.  
SHOW ME LOVE IS REAL, YEAH!

I WANNA KNOW WHAT LOVE IS!

He walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She sniffled, wiping her eyes and looking up. “Dad!?” He shushed her, giving her a hug. For a moment she didn't hug back, surprised but then she closed her eyes and hugged him back. “Come on princess, let's go home.” He said quietly, taking her hand and helping her stand. Peppy locked eyes with Suki, not saying a word but she knew what he was doing.

Suki then spotted Branch at the edge of the party, and she decided it was time to have a talk. Branch watched the trolls dance, uneasiness bubbling up in his stomach. They were playing a more upbeat song now, being loud and obnoxious. But he wasn't here for them, he was here for Poppy. He steeled his resolve and was about to walk forward, but he found himself oddly enough going backwards. 

Both Suki and Guy Diamond had each of his arms, and the rest of the snack pack walked alongside them as they dragged him along. “Hey! What's the meaning of this!? Let me go!” Once they were out of earshot they let him go, and surrounded him. Crossing their arms, and making their faces stern. “Care to explain why Poppy showed up alone?” Creek asked causing Branch to realize what this was about, he didn't know Poppy's friends very well but he knew they were almost family.

“Listen if I could just talk to Poppy!” But then Guy Diamond stepped up, and he put his hands on his hips. “Poppy went home!” Branch froze upon hearing this, and the sparkling troll continued. “Listen Branch, Poppy cares for you! And we're willing to accept that, try to get to know you and not judge you by appearance. But if you're going to be dating our friend, you need to make an effort for her! Because she's definitely making an effort for you!”

Suki was the next to speak, taking a deep breath and stepping forward. “You hurt Poppy tonight, and she did her best to put on a happy face to make sure that she didn't ruin anyone else's Valentine's day. The least you could've done is shown up, you didn't even have to dance!” Branch looked down somewhat ashamed, and then asked quietly. “What am I supposed to do, this is the way I am… whether I like it or not.” 

Smidge jumped up and grabbed his collar, and yanked him down to her level. “I'll tell you what you're gonna do! You're going to go to her tomorrow and tell her how beautiful she is and that she's the most important troll in your life, that's what you're going to do! You're going to apologize or I'm gonna serve you a knuckle sandwich! Got it!?” Branch nodded nervously, and she let go of his collar. Then she stormed off, the rest of them following.

As they left Creek lagged behind, giving Branch a concerned look. But he wasn't concerned about Branch, it was Poppy he was worried about. Branch scowled at him, and Creek sighed and shook his head. Leaving Branch alone to wallow in his guilt, and he turned around to go home. As he walked through the dark woods he thought about the pink princess. He had treated her pretty poorly, and it made him feel like a sack of ungrateful rotten berries.

The ambience of his surroundings didn't help, it was dark and quiet. Only the night bugs chirping and the sounds of his footsteps could be heard. He was finally at his bunker, but just as he was a couple feet in front of it he tripped over something. “Ouch! What the he-” he stopped his angry pain driven rant when he saw what he had tripped on, it was a present wrapped in blue paper with a purple bow.

He saw the words 'Love Poppy’ on it in in neat cursive writing. Quickly and carefully he picked up the gift and brought it inside, descending to the lower levels. Once in the safety and privacy of his bunker he put the gift on his table, almost afraid to open it. He hadn't gotten her anything, why would he? He was a child last time he celebrated Valentine's day, he wasn't used to it anymore. 

But times had changed, all those years he was alone so he had a reason not to celebrate. But he wasn't alone anymore, he had Poppy now. Carefully he tore the paper, and opening the box. In it was a shoulder strap sheath with a short blade in it. And what a beautiful blade it was, the craftsmanship of it being completely gorgeous. He drew it out only to find it had two blades, two that fit together as one.

He felt so sorrowful over his actions, placing the weapons in their case. This was a beautiful and symbolic gift, and he had nothing for her. Unless… he went to his deep storage and pulled out a box, it was purple with green designs all over it. He reached in and pulled out a small photo of him, it was an old black and white polaroid of him as a child. He then found the thing he was searching for, it was a locket in the shape of a heart. In the slots were pictures of his parents, Willow and Birch. The parents he never got to meet, he took their photos and set them aside. 

He then cut the picture of him so that it fit inside the locket, and placed it inside. He then took out an old dusty scrapbook with the initials RP on the front, picking up the photos of his parents and putting them away. They were the only ones he had left of them, so they were like treasure to him. Closing the book and putting it away, he wrapped up the locket and said to himself. “I hope this works.” 

The next day Poppy was sitting alone in a flower meadow, watching the light shine and filter through the petals. She sighed softly and looked at the smaller flower in her lap, caressing it gently. Then a sudden familiar voice scared her out of her daze. “Hey.” she looked up at Branch, slightly started at how he snuck up on her. He was standing there somewhat awkwardly with one hand behind his back.

“I was wondering if you had an extra heart… I lost mine when you… wait no mine was stolen… DANGIT I messed it up!” Branch smacked his face in embarrassment, causing Poppy to giggle a bit. 

He sighed then sat next to her and asked. “Could you hold something for me?” She warily put out her hand, and he put his hand in hers and entangled his fingers with hers. Poppy's eyes widened in surprise, looking at him questioningly. But he refused to look her in the eyes. 

“I uh, got your gift.” He said quietly. “Where did it come from?” Poppy looked down at their hands and smiled, loving how he gently squeezed every now and then. “It was my mother's, and I've never been one for sword play. So I figured you could probably use them.” She answered, making Branch shut his eyes in shame. “Poppy… you gave me a very heartfelt and symbolic gift, and I treated you pretty badly last night. By the time I came to the party to make it right you had already left.”

Poppy snapped to attention upon hearing that, asking. “Wait you came?” Branch cringed realizing what he just admitted, but figured it was too late to back track. “Yeah, I did. Your friends told me you had left, so I went home and found your gift. And well… I figured I might as well get you something.” He let go of her hand and gave her a small box, shocking poppy. 

Never in her wildest dreams did she expect this to happen, and it made her giddy and she had to suppress the happy squeal that wanted to come out. She took the gift and pulled it open, gasping at the sight of the locket. She carefully pulled it out, brushing her thumb across the embroidered surface. “It belonged to my mother, it was a gift from my dad.” he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Poppy held it close to her chest, and the mark on both of them began to shine and grow sprouting two little flowers. 

“Oh Branch! It's beautiful, thank you!” She said happily, placing a sweet kiss on his cheek. And this made Branch blush like mad, especially when she leaned her head on his shoulder. But he didn't pull away from the pleasant contact, and found himself putting his arm around her shoulder. It wasn't a hug per say, but it made Poppy very happy.

She opened the locket and saw the picture of younger Branch and giggled. “Aww is that you?” He nodded and she snorted a bit. “Figures it would be a black and white photo.” Branch chuckled at this, and wondered something. “Hey Poppy? He asked. “Yeah?” She answered. “How did I do? You know on the opening line?” She laughed and shook her head. “Close but not quite on the first one.” Branch drooped a little at that comment, but perked back up when she snuggled closer and said. “But I think you nailed the second one sweety.” 

And so they spent the rest of the day together, enjoying each other's company.


	5. Confrontations and Invitations

That morning when Poppy woke up she knew there was something important that day, but her sleep fuzzy mind wasn’t grasping what it was. She hauled herself off her bed and shuffled over to her calendar of important event Birthdays, Parties, Anniversaries, etc. As soon as her eyes found the date and what was written on it she snapped out of her sleepy state and broke into a massive grin as she bounced around her room humming a random catchy song. 

She took extra care picking out her outfit for the day, after all she had to look her best for her and Branch’s one year anniversary! Just thinking it made Poppy start squealing happily as she jumped up and started dancing around her pod. 

After dressing herself in a stylish beige knee length dress, Poppy practically floated out of her pod. She was going to go for her daily visit to her father and then she was going to make Branch a super amazing card to celebrate their year together. ‘I’m going to make the best card I’ve ever made! No holds barred for this! Maybe less shooting glitter since Branch doesn't like it and as much fun as it is to see his grumpy face when it’s covered in glitter I don't want him to be irritated today. So no glitter but maybe one of my singing cards? Hmm that just leaves the question of which song.’ 

Poppy decided to choose a song after visiting her father, she had plenty of time after all. As she danced over to the king’s pod her mind was on how today would go, Branch hadn’t reacted well to her invites in the past and even though this wasn’t an invite there was still a small bubbling fear in her stomach that she was getting excited over another let down event. 

Poppy shook her head as her thoughts started to sink into her worries, ‘I can’t think like that, I’m sure everything will be fine! I’m not inviting him to a party that I know he doesn’t want to go to. I’m just giving him a card and asking him to spend our anniversary together that’s all. It’ll be fine…’ Even as she fought to focus on the positive thoughts that little niggling doubt in the back of her mind had dug itself a home and was now refusing to be pushed back. 

Luckily that was when Poppy saw her father's pod not far from her, feeling her doubts growing she quickened her pace until she was on his front step and knocking to alert him she was there. Peppy opened the pod and smiled at the lovely sight before him. “Poppy, well don't you look beautiful today. You look just as beautiful as… as your mother.” 

Poppy smiled sweetly at her father, giving him a big hug. “Thanks Dad. I actually have some questions I'd like to ask you.” He gestured her in and walked her over to the dining room table. “Of course, anything for my princess. What seems to be on your mind?” Poppy thought carefully on how she wanted to word her questions, she knew this topic was going to be difficult for her father and while she wanted to know she didn’t want her father to be sad. 

Peppy saw his daughter struggling with words and knew there were very few things that could make her hesitate before saying what she was thinking and considering his earlier compliment he had a good idea what she wanted to ask about and why she was hesitating. “Poppy, you never need to worry about asking me anything...Especially if it is about your mother, which I’m guessing that is what this is about?” 

Poppy shyly nodded in the affirmative, leaning forward ever so slightly in anticipation, she had been curious about her mom but had never asked for fear of bringing up painful memories for her father. Now he was offering to tell her what she wanted to know and she wanted to make this as pain free as she could for him. “Dad if you don’t want to answer then you don’t have to, I know it must hurt more than I can understand to talk about.” Poppy made sure that her Dad knew that if he wanted to he didn’t have to answer, she didn’t want him to force himself to on her behalf. 

Peppy smiled a bittersweet smile at his loving daughter and he mentally braced himself for the conversation he knew was coming. “If I feel too uncomfortable I’ll tell you, okay? Now ask away.” Poppy released a breath and mentally set up her questions. “Today is Branch and I’s first anniversary and I wanted to know what you guys did for your anniversary? I’m trying to think of a good thing to do with him and maybe a gift besides a card. What are your suggestions Dad?” 

Peppy’s eyes glazed over as he seemed to be a million miles away from his pod, in a completely different time when his dearly beloved was alive. “Our first anniversary was an amazing day. Even now I remember it in perfect detail as if it were yesterday, I had everything set up ahead of time. I made your mother a picnic in her favorite spot, with all of her favorite desserts and a bouquet of poppies. Poppies were her favorite flower, she always said that roses, while beautiful, were everyone’s favorite and poppies had a unique beauty that fewer people appreciated. That’s where your name came from, on the day you were born your mother took one look at you and proclaimed that you were and always would be her favorite flower.” 

Poppy’s eyes teared up as she listened to her father, she had always been curious if there had been any other meaning behind her name or if she was just named like most other trolls after the different plant life. Knowing that she was named after her mother’s favorite flower made her have a new appreciation for her name. 

Peppy smiled at the warm smile that spread across Poppy’s face while she thought of her mother. He knew that Poppy didn’t have many things that connected her to her mother so he could understand why it was so special to Poppy that her name was her mother’s parting gift to her. Peppy grabbed Poppy’s hand and gave a gentle squeeze to pull her attention back to their conversation. “That wasn’t all you came here for, I can tell. You seem worried about something so what’s on your mind my dear?” 

Poppy smiled at her father’s unique ability to always know when and what she needed. “It’s nothing really. I’m just worried about how Branch will react. You know he isn’t known for his glowing responses to my invitations, but I’m sure since it’s not actually a party and it will only be us two he’ll accept!” She rushed her words together toward the end as she gave her dad a smile that was just a tad forced. 

Peppy frowned as he contemplated what his daughter had told him. Back when she had first told him they were dating and quite possibly soulmates he had been ecstatic for his little girl, finding one's other half was no easy feat and the love that blossomed from those pairs was usually the stuff of legends, just like his and joy’s love. 

However, he watched as Branch continued acting the same to his beloved daughter, he had hoped that once they started dating Branch would pull back on the blunt and sometimes downright cruel remarks. Peppy understood that he was just trying to keep the village safe in his own way, but there was other ways of doing it that didn’t involve hurting the feelings of his significant other. 

The king wasn’t sure now if he had made the right decision in giving Poppy his blessing for this relationship. He knew Branch could be a wonderful Troll, he had known the lad before the horrible tragedy with Rosiepuff happened and he was a sweet and caring young lad. Peppy had been hoping that being around Poppy would bring out more of the lad he remembered, but so far he hadn’t seen any improvement. 

Each time his daughter came to him in tears or wracked with worry over something Branch had said or done it made him regret not intervening when Poppy had first brought it to his attention. Now all he could do was give advice and hope that Branch managed to turn his behavior around before it left some lasting damage on his daughter, if it hadn’t already.

“Poppy, you and Branch aren’t your mother and I. You are your own individuals, so your anniversary should be something you know you will enjoy not what your mother and I enjoyed. If you want to invite him on a picnic then do so, but don’t do it because it was what your mother and I did. Do you understand?” Poppy looked perturbed as she thought over what he said, “I know that dad but what I usually want to do is stuff that Branch hates. I figured a picnic should hopefully work out well, it’s not loud and it would only be us so he wouldn't be uncomfortable.” 

Peppy considered what his daughter said and gave his final piece of advice on the matter. “I understand that Poppy, but please keep one thing in mind. In a relationship there are two equal parties and to have a long lasting relationship then you need to communicate and come to compromises on many issues. It can’t be just one person who gets their way, for example in your and Branch’s case Branch doesn’t like making a lot of sound for fear of gaining the attention of a predator but you love loud music. A good compromise would be either for you to play your music quieter or having him choose a safe place for you to listen to your music at full blast. Do you understand Poppy? You can’t always get what you want but you also can't always be the one who makes the sacrifice in the relationship.” 

Poppy looked deep in thought as she mentally mulled over what he father had told her, it made sense that a relationship would need compromise and that one person couldn’t run the entire thing, but she wasn’t sure how to compromise with Branch. Just getting him to spend time with her was a task that took a bunch of convincing on her part on a good day. 

The more she thought on it the more difficult it was to think of a solution so Poppy decided to think more on it later and focus on making the card and how she was going to ask Branch to go out with her. “Thanks Dad, I’ll make sure to keep that in mind and try to think of ways for us to compromise more. You always know what I need when I’m stumped!” Peppy looked relieved as he saw that his words had the desired impact on his daughter. 

“It’s part of being a father, I’m sure that if your mother was still here she would be able to as well. Someday if you have kids then you’ll understand.” Poppy was suddenly both curious and flustered at the thought of any future kids she might have. Was Branch good with kids? He avoided the ones in the village like the plague so she was guessing the answer was no. 

Shaking off that mental train of thought she gave her Dad a hug goodbye and set out back to her pod to start making the card. As she was walking back to her pod she thought about what her dad had told her about his relationship with her mother. Poppy let a dreamy sigh slip past her lips as she imagined what it’d be like to have that kind of relationship that had been built on years of experiences and happy times. 

Maybe, eventually she and Branch could have that….Maybe. She let out another sigh only this one was a resigned one. ‘What am I kidding myself for, there’s no way we’ll be like that. Not with how things are going right now. I’ll be lucky if we manage a fraction of that kind of love that they had.’ Poppy’s thoughts were interrupted when her pod came into sight, she walked in and got to work organizing her scrapbooking materials for the card she was going to make. 

Unknown to her the branches of her mark were shrinking back as if wilting with her spirits. Poppy, still unaware of the change to her mark, threw herself into the process of making the best card she could for their first anniversary. She made sure it was perfect in every way before she got up from her sitting position and walked out the door to go find the one who her card was for. Poppy desperately hoped this would go differently than her past experiences had, she wasn’t sure how much more she could take of her Soul Mate's rejection. 

On her way to Branch’s bunker she met up with her friends the snack pack. “Hey Poppy! Are you going to give that to Branch? It’s your guys one year anniversary right?” Biggie questioned curiously as he finished fixing Mr.Dinkles hat which had tilted to the side at some point in the day. “Yup! It is and I’m so excited! The one year anniversary is a major thing for any relationship!” Poppy cheered as she kept moving only to stop as she realised that Branch probably wouldn’t be happy with her if she led the entire snack pack to his bunker. 

“Hey guys, sorry that I’m running out on you guys so soon, but I’ve gotta get this to Branch and you know how he is about anyone knowing where his bunker is.” Her friends all nodded their understanding but before Poppy could say goodbye to them something over her shoulder caught Suki’s attention. “Hey! Looks like you won't have to go to his bunker to give it to him! He came into town, probably because he expected to do something with you today!” 

Hearing that, Poppy whirled on her heel and true enough there stood Branch looking highly uncomfortable in the crowd of Trolls. A beaming smile spread across Poppy’s face, ‘He remembered! He really remembered! He came to be with me, he’ll definitely accept my card then!’ As her thoughts became more jubilant the mark on neck reacted, sprouting a new flower bud on one of the top branches. 

She noticed that he was becoming more and more uncomfortable so she decided that since he was nice enough to come and see her even though he was obviously uncomfortable the least she could do was get him out of the crowd so he’d be more comfortable. Branch knew he was forgetting something today, it was poking at the back of his mind saying that whatever it was he was forgetting was important but for the life of him he couldn’t remember what it was. 

As he walked through the village towards where he went to stock up on non-gatherable supplies he saw various Trolls looking slyly at him. ‘Ok what in the hair am I forgetting that everyone knows about!?’ It was steadily irritating him as it seemed he was the only Troll not to know what was going on. His suspicions only heightened when an elderly lady walked over to him and said, “How nice that you came into town. I’m sure the princess will be ecstatic that you made the effort for her. Have fun today!” 

As she was walking away from a thoroughly confused Branch he could have sworn he heard her say under her breath, “Oh what it’s like to be young and in love.” Branch felt the beginnings of an impressive flush starting. What was going on in this place that he didn’t know about?! Before he could question anyone he saw a flash of pink coming toward him at high speed and it was all he could do to turn and brace for impact. 

Sure enough not two seconds later the pink blur slammed into his arms, knocking him off balance and making him take a step back to reestablish his balance. As soon as his feet were sturdily planted back onto the ground he set Poppy down and moved to scold her for both the public tackle-hug and for almost toppling them both over he looked at her shining smile and couldn’t bring himself to squash it for something so small. 

Instead Branch gave a small smile and asked, “What has you so full of energy? Besides the normal gallon of sugar you eat every day?” Poppy laughed and replied, “Actually today I’ll have you know I only ate half a gallon of sugar and as if you don’t know why I’m in a good mood! I get to spend the day with you, that’s enough to make any day a good one!” 

Branch flushed at her sudden compliment, thankfully it seemed that all the trolls around them were too busy to notice what she had said so he didn’t bother scolding her, but he did contemplate reminding her that they were in the middle of town. He decided to leave it be though when Poppy immediately shoved something that had previously been hidden in her hair into his arms. He had to scramble to catch the item, and once he had it balanced in his hand he identified it as what looked like one of her invites to another party. 

Heaving a mental sigh Branch prepared for their normal ritual. He didn’t know why she went through the trouble of making him invites when he had already told her multiple times that he wouldn’t accept but he did secretly enjoy them so he never told her to stop. Just as he was about to explain yet again that he wasn’t going to any parties he saw the snack pack over Poppy’s shoulder and he could see Cooper stifling a laugh at his mushy attitude. Branch felt his rage boil in his stomach that yet again he was the butt of their joke. 

He knew that wasn’t Poppy’s objective, it just wasn’t in her to do that to him, but every time she did this he always was made the butt of the snack packs joke. He never had the heart to tell her about it, he knew that she would confront her friends and the last thing he wanted was for Poppy to be at odds with her friends over him. So he said nothing however when Poppy handed him his usual invite, but from the very corner of his eyes he could see Cooper with a recently arrived Creek looking at him with smug looks on their faces and that was the final straw.

Without even letting Poppy open the letter this time he looked back at her and without hesitation ripped the envelope in half as he spoke loud enough for them all to hear, “I’m not going! I’m going right back to my bunker, the supplies I came for aren’t important enough for this headache.” Branch watched as Poppy’s formerly beaming smile slipped into a hurt frown. 

Then something happened that terrified him to the bone happened, Poppy’s eyes filled with tears and her lower lip trembled. That feeling in the back of his mind that he was missing something important came screaming back, but he still had no idea what he needed to remember. As he watched Poppy’s facial expression morph into the picture of emotional pain he started to panic. ‘What did I do? I’ve rejected her invites loads of times and she’d never reacted like this!’ 

He didn’t even have to look up to know that the Snack Pack were glaring holes into his head, he could feel all of their eyes boring holes into him. Before Branch could ask what he was missing from the situation Poppy did something she had never done before, she turned on her heel and ran away from him. That seemed to snap the snack pack into action as they all chased after her frantically calling her name. 

However, when he took a step in her direction the twins left the chase to stop in his way. Now frustrated and confused Branch snapped, “Why are you two stopping me? I just want to know why she’s crying! I’ve rejected her party invitations before and she never reacted like that!” His inquiry made both Chenille and Satin stare at him incredulously. 

“You have got to be kidding me, you really don't know what today is?” Branch’s previous frustration increased as it was confirmed that there was something that he was missing. “That’s what I’ve been saying! Everyone seems to know what's going on but me and it seems to have something to do with Poppy and me, but I have no idea what it is!” Satin felt like slamming her head against the nearest wall...or slamming Branch’s head against it. 

How thick could this guy be that he forgot something that important?! Chenille stepped forward and put a calming hand on her sister’s arm, “Look Branch, just read what she was trying to give you. I can promise you that it wasn’t an invitation to a party.” Branch’s frustration subsided slightly as his confusion to hold again, “Wait if it wasn’t an invite then what was it?” 

Satin moved forward so she was right in front of his face, “Read it. I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure it out from there. Branch you better fix this mess. I don’t care if Poppy cares about you, if you don’t fix this then I will and I promise you won’t like it. My sister and I have supported your relationship with Poppy because we’ve seen that you can be nice to Poppy, but if you keep acting like this then we’ll help Creek convince Poppy that you’re no good for her. We won’t stand by as you hurt her.” 

Branch took a shocked step back from the twins. He had never expected them to outright threaten him like that. What she said sank into his mind, could they really convince Poppy to break it off? He had known Creek had been trying but Poppy wasn’t listening to him, but if the twins joined in… There was a stone in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Poppy breaking up with him. 

Before Branch could come up with a response the twins both turned on their heels and started to walk after Poppy. They threw one more parting shot over their shoulder though. “You better not get near Poppy until after you read that letter and when you do come back you better have one major apology ready!” Branch watched with his jaw hanging as the twins sauntered off after Poppy. 

Shaking himself out of his shock Branch looked down to his hands which held the two parts to the letter which now held all of the answers. He carefully pulled both halves of the letter out, making sure not to damage them any further than he already had, and he held them next to one another so he could read what was written. The ‘letter’ was actually a card, less glitter than he was expecting from Poppy, and had a picture of them hugging inside a heart on the front. When he opened it and read what the card was for everything clicked into place in his mind. 

‘Oh.’ That was the only thought that Branch’s mind came up with. It felt like his entire mind had come to a skidding halt after he read the card. At the top read in big bold letters, ‘Happy Anniversary, Branch!’ The feeling that he was forgetting something important finally ebbed away now that he remembered and was replaced with a much worse feeling. He felt like his entire stomach was in knots and that he was about to be violently sick if he moved too quickly. 

The feeling gravitated up his chest to his heart, it felt like a hand was painfully gripping his heart and every time it beat it pushed against its restraint making it bruise with every pump. After what seemed like an eternity his mind finally started back up and his former chilling calm broke away to a hurricane of panicked thoughts. ‘I forgot our anniversary. But I didn't just forget our anniversary, I also destroyed the card which was made for it, and told her that I wouldn’t be with her on it as well.’ 

Branch’s thought steadily became more scrambled until one thought froze all of the panic in his mind and sent ice through his veins. ‘I made Poppy cry on our first anniversary.’ That one thought forcibly shut down every other thought and emotion he had. He had actually made his girlfriend cry, not on purpose but that didn’t make it any better. His mind snapped back on track with only one thought running through it like a broken record. ‘I have to fix this and I have to fix this NOW.’ 

Now with his mind set Branch was determined to find a way to fix things with Poppy. The problem was he had absolutely no idea of how to fix it. ‘An apology is definitely a good start, but that’s not nearly enough to make up for this mess. Maybe I should make her something? Oh, but I don’t have the time for that! What does Poppy like? Besides singing and dancing I’m NOT doing that.’

As Branch gazed around hoping to find something to inspire him his sight landed on some flowers. ‘Of course! How could I forget! Every time we go out she always comments on the flowers in the area. I’ll get her some flowers!’ Feeling slightly more optimistic now that he had a plan of action he jogged into the forest to find Poppy’s favorite flowers. 

Peppy had been worried about his daughter’s relationship with the villages resident grey troll off and on since it started. He had been happy that Poppy had found her one and that Branch would have someone like Poppy in his life. The boy needed someone since his grandmother passed so many years ago, however he watched as Branch unintentionally hurt his princess multiple times and each time she came to him in tears he felt deep down that maybe his judgement had been wrong on the paranoid survivor. 

Peppy had known deep down that Branch was always just trying to keep everyone safe from the bergen’s wrath which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but he went about it all wrong. As Peppy watched the boy who he knew was a good troll at heart hurt his daughter at what seemed to be every opportunity given he could feel an old feeling he hadn't felt in years surface. A protective anger, the likes of which he hadn’t felt since he was protecting his people from the Bergen’s, rose within him. 

If things continued as they were he would need to have a little talk with Branch. It was one thing to be hurting and need help but not know how to ask for it. It was an entirely different thing to need help but shun it at every opportunity and purposefully hurt the one who is trying to help in an effort to push them away. As a father he couldn’t make himself look the other way anymore.

In that moment Peppy decided that if Branch continued how he had been acting Peppy would stage an intervention and have a discussion of the proper treatment of his daughter with him. ‘I’m sure it won’t come to that though, Poppy said he had been getting better with affection since the Valentine’s Party. If all goes well that talk will never need to-’ Peppy thoughts were cut off by the sound of rapidly coming footsteps and before he could fully comprehend what he was hearing a pink blur flew past him straight up the stairs into Poppy’s bedroom. 

Peppy didn’t even completely turn around before he heard the sound that simultaneously broke his heart and told him that his schedule of duties was going to be cleared for that talk with Branch. Pain filled sobs came from his daughter's room and the king could guess why she was upset. There was only one thing Poppy had ever gotten this upset over and that was Branch, it was always Branch. 

Mind made up, Peppy started toward his heart broken daughter’s room with a plan of attack already forming. Poppy knew that she should have expected this from Branch considering his record in the past, but a part of her had perhaps foolishly believed that he would make an exception for their anniversary. ‘He didn’t even know it was our anniversary! Does what we have mean so little to him?!’ 

As Poppy sank deeper into her despairing thoughts the mark on her neck shriveled and slowly shrank until it was almost entirely regressed back to what it was when she and Branch had first met. Through the last year they had their ups and downs, their marks had grown and shrank multiple times, but never in that year had it shrank this much. If Poppy had been in any emotional state to worry about it she would have been panicking and frantically trying to find a way to fix it, but as the situation stood she had no extra energy to use to be worried about it.

‘Besides, it’s not like it hasn’t shrunk in the past and it managed to stretch back out. It’ll grow again once we get everything sorted.’ Poppy had become mostly numb to Branch’s sometimes harsh personality over the past year, he had rejected every invitation she had made him but she had expected nothing less. If she was being honest with herself she wasn’t entirely sure why she still made them for him when she knew all he was going to do was destroy them. 

The only reason she could think of was that it was her way of showing Branch that she hadn’t given up on him yet, so she couldn’t mentally make herself burn the only bridge that her and Branch had on their worst days. If that meant dealing with rejection then that's what she would do. Poppy was broken out of her thoughts by a weight sitting on her bed right behind her. 

She knew instantly who it was since her entrance wasn’t exactly stealthy and it was normal for her father to be at his pod this early before he started his kingly duties around the village. Besides her father always seemed to know just what to say to make her feel better and right now she desperately needed his words of wisdom and comfort. 

Peppy was very distraught to find Poppy in her bed sobbing and a very dim shade of pink. He put his hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him. Lip quivering and tears rolling down her cheeks. He opened his arms and she dove into the hug without a second thought, his comforting presence helpful but not a cure for how she was feeling. 

“Poppy I don't know what happened, but if you want to talk about it?” She tried to voice what happened but she couldn't catch her breath, so she buried her face into his chest and cried. Peppy patted her back sympathetically, and said in a quiet caring voice. “Poppy I think you need some fresh air, clear your head and calm down. We'll talk when you're ready okay?” She nodded and he lead her to the door, and she walked away into the woods towards the river. At that moment Peppy knew one thing for certain, he needed to have a little chat with Branch. 

Poppy sat on a log by a river, her tears gushing down her face with every sob she let out. All of the snack pack stood back, wanting to comfort her but no idea how to. Then Creek stepped forward, walking up to her and sitting on the log next to her. Poppy continued to cry but she didn't tell him to leave. “Hey Poppy, it's not all that bad. I mean sure he's done something downright despicable, but you still have us. We're here for you Poppy.” 

Poppy sniffled and wiped her tears, watching the river as it traveled down the bank. “Thanks Creek, but it still hurts…” she said as the mark wilted and shrunk. Creek watched his friend fiddle her fingers as the tears streaming down her face landed in her lap. “Poppy… this isn't healthy. Your aura is all out of whack, and his behavior hasn't gotten any better. You just let him hurt you, why stay with him if he's never going to change?” 

Poppy didn't look up at him to answer. She just watched the water as it flowed along. She sighed sadly and said. “Because he's my soulmate Creek…” Creek was a bit shocked and confused by this answer, prompting him to ask. “What?!” She turned her back towards him and pointed to the mark on her neck. “This, Branch has the same mark on the back of his left shoulder. We're linked together, by our hearts and souls. I could choose to ignore it, and let it wither away… but how could I do that to him?... I-I love him…” 

Creek was shocked to say the least, he knew she had a crush on him. She had for a long time, but this was the first time she had said she loved him. He had been trying to convince her to leave Branch for almost a year now, but she never did. Branch was lonely, whether or not he admitted it, and Poppy didn't want to break his heart. Even if hers was a little broken in the process. He sighed and put an arm around her shoulder, giving her a side hug. 

“There's no way to convince you otherwise… Is there?” Poppy just silently shook her head, and let another tear slip down her cheek. Creek huffed and put on a caring smile. “Well if you even need someone to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on, I'll be there for you Poppy.” she sniffled a little, but hugged him tightly. 

“Thanks Creek.” He rubbed her back a bit, glancing at the mark on her neck. He was definitely concerned but he couldn't overstep his bounds. She pulled back and looked at the water again. “If you don't mind I'd like to be alone for a while.” Creek nodded saying nothing and leaving. As he walked away he motioned for the others to follow him, leaving her alone with her thoughts.


	6. The Long Awaited Conversation

As Branch wandered deeper into the forest where he knew the more colorful flowers were, his thoughts drifted to Poppy and how she must be feeling right now. He knew that his girlfriend was usually very thick skinned, she had to be what with his dazzling personality and temper on a bad day, but he also understood that she took his words to heart. 

Branch dearly hoped that she wasn’t crying but he knew it was a hope in vain. Big first’s were a huge deal to Poppy so of course this would be as well. He was going to need some amazing flowers to make this better, one thing was certain though. He needed to talk to Poppy, he needed to apologize for his actions and explain that he didn’t have a way of tracking the days in his Bunker. 

He had a basic idea but not an exact until he was forced to go into the village. After this he might just have to keep better track of them so it doesn’t happen again or ask Poppy to remind him a week in advance. Branch scrunched his nose at the thought of having Poppy remind him of the important dates, that would make her think he didn’t care enough to keep track. He sighed, “Yes some explaining is definitely in order, as well as some apologizing.” 

As he spoke aloud to himself he stumbled into a clearing with flowers of every color, shape, and size imaginable. ‘This is perfect!...Now which do I get her?’ Branch looked around at the rainbow of colors, at a complete loss as to what to bring back for Poppy. He knew she loved pretty much all of the colors as long as they were bright, and all of these flowers fit that description but he wasn’t sure which of them was the best for the situation. 

As he steadily grew more overwhelmed a thought occurred to him. ‘Why do I only need to pick a few? I can carry a bunch back with me, I can get a few of the more extravagant ones as well as a few simpler ones and maybe make a bouquet out of them!’ Plan in mind Branch got to work picking out the ones he considered the best of the best flowers. He would only give the most beautiful ones to Poppy and he had to make sure that if there were thorns he needed to cut them off beforehand so she didn't cut herself. 

With preparations and decisions running through his mind only one thought rose above the others, ‘I hope Poppy will forgive me or at least let me explain.’ Branch walked back to the village with his load of, now thornless, flowers wrapped with a brilliant blue ribbon in one hand and his heart in the other ready for Poppy to claim it. As he was walking toward Poppy’s pod he saw the entire Snack Pack leaving a secluded clearing, there was only one reason for all of them to be leaving an area at the same time when they knew Poppy was hurt and that was that they already talked to her. 

Which told Branch exactly where Poppy was. He redirected himself so he was going toward the clearing, stealthily avoiding the snack pack, he didn’t have the time to face them right now. He knew they had a right to rip into him for how he treated their friend but right now he needed to focus on Poppy he could face off with them tomorrow. After safely passing the Snack Pack into the clearing he saw a sight that broke his heart, Poppy with her face hidden in her knees with her entire body curled into the smallest ball Branch had ever seen. 

All in all she was a pitiful sight and all Branch knew in that moment was that he would do anything it took to make her smile again. She must have heard his approach because her ear flicked slightly in his direction before lowering back down. Poppy lifted her head off of her knees and turned to Branch, the sight that met him was something that confirmed his fear. He had been too late to stop her tears and by the look of her bright red eyes he had been over an hour late too. 

He watched as Poppy’s eyes drifted from his face down his chest only to finally rest on the bouquet in his hand. He immediately stepped forward and offered it to her, “Here. It’s for you. I wasn’t sure what to get you. I didn’t know if there was a specific flower that you give when you want to apologize for being a jerk or if you would want a specific flower. Now that I think about it I don't actually know your favorite flower. What is it? Next time I’ll be sure to bring that one. NOT that I’m planning to mess up like this again, I just meant that the next time I feel like getting you flowers I can make sure to get you ones that you like. I am really not making this any better am I?” 

Branch stared embarrassedly at the floor as he flushed back to his ears. His inspection of the ground was broken by a small giggle. He swiveled his head up to see Poppy with one of her hands over her mouth, trying to stifle her laugh, and a small smile. ‘YES, I got her to smile again!...Wait, why is she smiling I just told her I don't know her favorite flower and blurted my thoughts at her?’ 

Then a memory flashed in his mind, a memory of a time when he and Poppy were walking, hand in hand, she had mentioned that she thought it was adorable when he got flustered and it always brought a smile to her face because it meant he was just as nervous as she was. ‘Well, at least my discomfort is good for something. If it makes her smile like that then I guess I don’t mind fumbling around too much.’ 

Poppy watched as Branch’s eyes softened and warmed to a soothing sky blue. That look made the butterflies come alive in her stomach, ‘Whoa, wait a minute! We still need to talk before you’re allowed to feel that! Digest those butterflies!’ She forced her happiness down and kept a neutral face as she faced Branch and made no move to take the bouquet. 

Branch noticed that she wasn’t moving to take the peace offering so he decided it might be best to explain himself without rambling before she decided to leave. He lowered his arm with the bouquet and racked his mind for something to tell her, eventually he settled on, “First off let me say that I didn’t mean to forget our anniversary and I’m also sorry for destroying the invitation. I looked at it when I got home and it was beautiful, I’ll fix it later. It’s not that I don’t care I promise, I just don’t really have a way to count exact days in my bunker. The only time I know the days are when I come into the village for supplies. From now on I’ll keep better track of that, that is if you still want to be together. I know what I did was wrong on so many levels but I don’t know how to make it better. I just want you to know that I just want to fix my mistake and make you feel better.” 

Poppy listened quietly through his explanation and admitted to herself that it made sense, if she had stopped to think about it Branch didn't really have anything that wasn’t a necessity in his bunker so he wouldn't have a calendar. She could easily forgive him for forgetting their anniversary, besides he said he would work on it for her if she wanted, but that wasn’t what had her upset. It was his reaction to her invite. 

He could have just handed it back if he didn't want it but he made a point of shredding it in front of her friends and getting mad to the point of yelling. Poppy wasn’t stupid, she knew that this wasn’t a healthy relationship and that something needed to change immediately. She really didn’t want to break it off with Branch but she couldn't let him keep doing this to her emotions either. Today would be the deciding day, if they would talk through their problems and solve them or if their relationship would crumble. 

Of course even if they did break it off she would still be Branch’s friend, she didn’t think she could make it without having some kind of interaction with him even if it wasn’t romantic. “Branch, we need to talk.” There were very few things that terrified Branch down to his soul, the list was currently: Bergens, the idea of losing Poppy, crowded places, and now the words, ‘We Need To Talk’ were added to his list. 

He knew what those words meant and he was desperate to change her mind before she set it. ‘But how do I make her reconsider?! I’m not good with words and she doesn’t seem phased from my last attempt with them…’ As Branch’s thoughts became steadily more panicked his breathing picked up to a not at all healthy rate, which Poppy of course noticed. ‘Why does he look like he’s scared? All I said was that we need to talk, and we do. Our relationship can’t continue like this. We need to talk it out and find a solution that’ll fit both of us. Hopefully, we can find a solution. I don’t want to go back to only being friends with him but if he isn’t interested in this anymore then that’s what’s going to need to happen.’ 

As she thought hard trying to understand why he seemed scared she heard him mutter, “I’m sorry I don’t know what else to say. I don’t want to lose you, but I don’t know how to tell you that!” Once Poppy heard that she knew why he was panicking. ‘He thinks I’m going to break it off. I would never do that without at least trying to talk it out with him first! Surely he knows that...right?’ Poppy came to the conclusion that no he did not in fact know that. 

She had seen his insecurity first hand and sadly it did make sense that Branch would believe that she didn’t care enough to try for their relationship. ‘Well, I guess this definitely proves he at least wants to do this with me, but we still need to talk. However, it can wait until I reassure him. Know just the thing.’ Branch’s thoughts were steadily spiraling out of control and it seemed that nothing could stop them. Nothing that it until he felt a small hand began gently stroking his cheek. 

Every muscle in his body tensed but he refused to look up, even as his mind was soothed by the one troll he craved affection from the most his body still remained stubbornly tense. Seeing that he had calmed his breathing but still refused to look at her Poppy decided to just begin talking and hope for the best. Besides, she knew he was listening so even if he wasn’t reacting he heard, his ears were twitching and facing her after all and that meant he may not look it but she had his undivided attention. Taking a deep breath Poppy began. 

“You dork, I’m not breaking up with you. I want to talk to you about our issues in this relationship because boy we have a lot of them, but that doesn't mean this is the end of us. The only way that this is ending is if you and I both agree that there is no better way or you are no longer interested. So before I say anything else there is one question that you need to answer for me. Do you want this relationship to work, because if you don’t that’s fine. I will always be your friend if that’s what you’re worried about. I refuse to leave you alone because no matter what you say or how much you say it no one wants to be alone. However, if you do want this, us, then we can work through anything that the world throws at us but we need to talk. We need to communicate what we feel and what we want. We should be able to talk to each other about anything that we want or need to with no issue that’s what makes couples so close. Their ability to take on anything as long as they’re together. So do you want to see where this goes or would you prefer to let it rest?” 

Branch, who had lifted his head at some point in her emotional speech, locked eyes with Poppy only to see true sincerity. She believed every word that she said, that if they worked together they could beat anything and even though his logical mind was shouting at him of the inaccuracy of that statement his heart was an entirely different story. His heart told him that she was right, as long as she was standing at his side then they could take on anything. 

Branch snapped out of his thoughts when he remembered Poppy was waiting on an answer, as if there was any other answer he would ever give. “Yes! I want this to work, and if talking is what will do it then yes let’s talk. Let’s talk about anything and everything as long as we are still talking to one another! I do want to see where this goes! I want to know you better than anyone, even yourself! I know that I’m not easy to live with but someday I want you to know me that way too. I want the kind of relationship where your face is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see before I go to sleep at night. I want you and all the good and bad things that entails.” 

In Poppy’s life she could count the amount of times she had been struck completely speechless on one hand and the times that it wasn’t her father making her speechless she could count on one finger. She had never thought Branch would be the only other person besides her Dad who could do that to her. Poppy had figured in the best case scenario Branch would give a gruff yes because he didn’t like showing his emotions and on the worst case scenario...well Poppy didn’t want to think of that. What she had never expected was for Branch to pour his emotions out bluntly to her because he didn't want her to leave him. 

It opened up a completely new line of thoughts that she had previously shot down before it could get too hopeful and hurt her later. Thoughts like a future where she was Queen and he was her king and maybe, just maybe in her deepest hopes there would be kids. She refused to let herself start to think about that when it was so obviously not going to happen however with Branch’s confession she couldn't help but think that her dreams might not be so unreachable after all. 

As Poppy was reevaluating her hopes for the future Branch came to realise just how much of his heart he had spilled in his moment of pure unadulterated panic. Usually Branch would be scrambling to say something to regain his sullen image but seeing the look of wonder on Poppy’s face, as if he had just offered her everything she had ever wanted in the world on a silver platter, he couldn’t make himself break the mood. 

After all the things he had put her through in the past year she deserved to hear just how much she meant to him and if that costed him his pride then so be it. Unfortunately for him that didn’t stop his ears from turning an impressive shade of greyish purple. After a few minutes of Poppy’s awestruck face not changing Branch chanced trying to snap her out of her frozen mental state. Taking a deep breath Branch slowly reached forward and gently cupped her elbow. 

“Poppy?” Said troll, who had previously been buried deep into her mind thinking on all the new roads this change could bring, snapped back into the present where her partner was nervously waiting for her reaction to him basically pouring his heart out. Poppy mentally slapped herself at the borderline afraid look on Branch’s face, now was not the time to zone out! She would have plenty of time to do that after they had talked through their problems. 

Poppy looked directly into Branch’s worried eyes as she took his hand off of her arm and intertwined their fingers together. As the worried look melted off of Branch’s face to be replaced with a hesitantly hopeful smile, Poppy’s face morphed into the biggest smile she could physically make without looking like she was over-exaggerating her soul blinding happiness. Poppy tugged on their conjoined hands, subtly asking Branch to move closer. 

As Branch moved forward Poppy slipped her arm that wasn't preoccupied with holding his hand around his chest, pulling them both closer until there was no space between their bodies. For once Branch was in no rush to break their hug, content to linger in Poppy’s warm embrace until she wanted to have the talk that he knew was inevitably coming. Reluctantly pulling away Poppy scooted a bit closer, Branch's arm draped over her shoulder keeping he as close as possible.

Poppy took a deep breath and asked. “Branch why do you snap at me? It's almost out of nowhere sometimes, and I don't know what to do to help because I can never see it coming.” Branch glanced away from her sad and ashamed, it took him a little while but he finally answered in a hushed tone. “I… I just… I have a lot of emotions and feelings that I've felt throughout my life, some of which I'd rather not feel again. And when I'm angry it all just kinda piles up, and it's just a lot to process. I say a lot of things that I don't mean, but it still comes out.” 

Poppy's eyebrows creased in concern, and she took his free hand in hers. Squeezing gently and asking. “Do you want to talk about it?” Branch shook his head and mumbled. “Not right now… sorry.” Poppy understood and decided that it would be a topic for another day. “That's okay, but I can't be blamed for things that happened in the past. You can't keep dragging my feelings through the mud, I can't take it.” 

Branch whipped around and grabbed her shoulders and nodded vigorously. “I know, you don't deserve it and I'm sorry.” Poppy gave a small side smile, and removed his hand and held them in hers. “Well maybe I can help you when you're feeling like that? Sometimes you go from almost happy to a sourpuss in almost an instant, why is that?” Branch thought about it, and most of the time it was because everyone was treating him differently. “Because nobody understands…” He said, sparking Poppy’s curiosity. 

“everyone in the village has an opinion, a statement, or some advice on how I should be happy… but none of them understand what it's like to be grey, not even you. Not that you don't try, and I appreciate that but sometimes it's just so… so… frustrating!” Poppy put her hand on his cheek, her heart breaking with sadness. “Oh Branch…” she murmured, he didn't say anything more but he leaned into her touch. 

Poppy couldn't imagine how it felt to be grey, with how positive she is all the time. “Is there any way to know when you're about to, um… blow up?” Branch rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed, he didn't exactly want to tell her that he felt ridiculed by her friends but he couldn't lie to her either. “Well it mostly happens around crowded places, during situations of a rather tense nature.” Poppy raised a brow in confusion, and he gave up resting is face in his hands. “It's your friends okay!” 

He said in a stressed tone, somewhat shocking Poppy. “What?” She asked not entirely understanding. Branch squirmed under her gaze, wishing she wasn't staring so intensely at him. “Your friends kinda make fun of me, like a lot.” Poppy suddenly thought back to earlier when he destroyed her card, all her friends were there. They happened to be in the center of the village, and all the attention was on him. 

It made sense now! But that didn't excuse his behavior in the least bit. She needed a compromise, so he wasn't hurting and she didn't get hurt. “Branch I care for you very much, and I want to help you! But when you treat me like that it makes me very sad.” Branch took her hand in his and blushed saying. “I… I could sing to make you happy… if it's what you really want!” 

Poppy was awestruck, Branch hated when someone asked him to sing. It was one of the things he got legitimately upset about, and she figured it was most likely because he had a bad voice. Which is okay, but he must be super self conscious about it. Poppy shook her head and said. “No!” Which got a mixture of reactions from him, confusion, relief, and just a smidgen of disappointment. 

“Wait what? But you're always trying to get me to sing, why the change of heart?” She gripped his hands gently but firmly, looking into his blue eyes. “Because you don't want to.” This answer boggled Branch's mind even more, and Poppy attempted to think of a better explanation. “Would you want me to force myself to do something that makes me uncomfortable just to make you feel happy?” 

Branch's eyes widened like plates and he shook his head in worry and concern. “No I wouldn't want that at all!” Poppy nodded, glad he finally understood. “That's why I don't want you to, not until you're ready. But I do want to make things easier, how could I help?” Branch thought about it, and he didn't want her to change anything. 

Sure she got on his nerves, but he liked to think of that as playful banter. “Honestly it depends on the situation, sometimes whether I tell you or not I feel like I almost actually want a hug, and other times I just need my space. Sometimes I want to hear your beautiful voice, and sometimes I just want silence. I know I'm a difficult book to read, but you do help me. I'm sorry I'm so complicated…” 

Branch let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his hair, and in a split second gave Poppy an idea. “Branch I think I have an idea!” she let go of his hand and pointed at his hair. “What you just did with your hair, it's what we need!” Branch wasn't following, just letting out a small. “Huh?” She repeated his hand motion with a big smile on her face. “Gestures! Little subtle signs to let me know when you feel uncomfortable! Like say there's a conversation you aren't too thrilled with, so you just lock eyes with me and run your hand through your hair!” 

Branch was starting to understand now and asked. “Like a secret code?” she threw her arms up excitedly, shouting. “Exactly!!! And when you just want to be left alone you could put you hands behind you back, that way I know when you need space!” Branch kinda liked the idea, giving her a small smile. This was probably the most practical thing she'd ever come up with, and she was proud of it as she should be. 

It would make many of the situations he regularly had problems with much easier if she could just know when to get him out. Before he could voice how much he liked the idea Poppy’s over excited ramble interrupted his train of thought, not that he minded too much. “Also! What if whenever you feel uncomfortable in a situation you squeeze my hand? For example, if we are in a crowded area and you want to leave you squeeze my hand. We can even have a system for it! One to five squeezes, if you are only mildly uncomfortable then you squeeze once but if you are about to seriously panic then you squeeze five times and I’ll get both of us out of there pronto! It doesn't matter what we are doing or where we are, I promise that if you aren’t comfortable I will get us out without drawing attention to you.” 

As Poppy finished her passionate speech she had a determined fire in her eyes that Branch knew meant that not only was she determined to uphold her promise, she was also probably already planning how to make things easier on him. ‘This girl only just learned that I’m uncomfortable in some situations and she is already planning out ways to either work around the issue or to give me an escape route when I get overwhelmed. Apparently she can plan more than just parties on the drop of a dime.’ 

As Branch stood in front of his girlfriend who looked as if she wanted nothing more than to take all the things troubling him and fight all of his demons back into their holes he could only articulate one thought and it rang loud through his mind. ‘I’m falling so far for this amazing woman and I can’t do anything about it and for once in my life I don’t want to fight my happiness. I couldn’t help it when grandma was taken from me but I can help it with Poppy. I won’t let anything take Poppy from me, I’ll get stronger and I’ll work on being affectionate. I can do this, for Poppy I can do this.’ 

Before Poppy could process what was happening she suddenly had her arms full of her favorite grumpy grey troll. ‘I’m not complaining at all but that was kind of out of nowhere. One minute he’s looking at me with his normally icy blue eyes melting into a warm sky blue and the next he is hugging me as if his life depends on it. I’m just gonna roll with it, after all he doesn’t initiate hugs usually so I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts.’ 

Just as Poppy was getting ready for when Branch usually pulled back from the hug he surprised her by tightening his arms around her so she couldn't pull away. After recovering from her shock she joyously wrapped him tighter into her arms and resumed their hug, completely ignoring the rest of the world outside of their little bubble. But sadly all good things end and while he had encouraged the hug to last longer than normal he still had to pull away eventually, she saw it as a win that it took so long before he did. 

However instead of removing his arms from around her like she was dreading he only loosened them enough to give them a few inches of space between their faces. Poppy could feel his breath on her lips as her heart kicked into overdrive and her mind completely flatlined, trying to stop her brain from completely shutting down from the mixture of overwhelming hope and fear. Fear that if she so much as breathed wrong the dream would end and he would jump away from her as if burned. 

With his arms still tightly wrapped around her forming a warm, comforting cocoon he leaned the few inches forward and shyly pressed a kiss to her cheek. And that was the moment that Poppy’s brain completely shut down with only the base functions still working. ‘Not exactly what I was hoping for but I’ll take it!’ As Poppy’s mind rebooted from its emergency shutdown she looked to see Branch with his head angled down and a deep purplish flush going up his cheek to his ears. 

His eyes were downcast as he regulated his breathing but with how close their bodies were pressed she could feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest just like hers was, almost like they were trying to jump out of their respective chests and meet. Gathering her courage Poppy untangled one of her hands to gently grab his chin and lift his head until they were eye to eye again. “May I kiss you?” 

Branch’s eyes widen with shock that she would ask but he hesitantly nodded. Poppy shuffled forward lifting herself onto her toes until she was centimeters from Branch’s lips which were nervously trembling. Seeing his nerves Poppy changed her route at the last second, he was making a massive effort for her the least she could do was stay within his comfort zone. She kept a close eye on his reactions as she pressed her mouth to the underside of his jaw in a small, sweet kiss. 

She felt more than heard Branch let a gust of air out of his lungs as it brushed past her ear and ruffled her bangs. Poppy slowly separated from him and the look he had on his face was one that made her heart melt into a puddle of goo on the ground at both of their feet. ‘Doesn’t matter I’ll scoop it back up later.’ Branch was looking down at Poppy with the warmest smile she had ever seen from anyone before, a smile that spoke so many words that he couldn’t put together. His smile told her that he was blissfully happy and in that one moment he was probably more happy then he had ever been in that last two decades. 

If the look in his eyes wasn’t enough to reduce her heart to puddle status then the small adoring smile on his lips would have done it on it’s own. She had never seen him smile like this, she had seen a small smile a few times but usually it was his signature smirk, but this? This was something else entirely, this smile was overflowing with wonder and admiration. He was smiling with all of his heart in it and she had never once seen a more beautiful sight and she realised she probably never would find another sight to beat it. 

‘I have a new life goal. I want to coax that smile out of him at least once a day. It might take me awhile to get to that point but it’s not like the process to getting there is something I won't enjoy immensely!’ as they sat there quietly together, Branch's chest began to tighten with guilt. He was glad they had a system now, but it came at the cost of Poppy's card and ruining their anniversary. He looked downcast which Poppy noticed immediately, putting a hand on his and asking. “What's wrong?” he rubbed the back of his head and answered softly. 

“It's just I don't want our first anniversary to be ruined, what did you want to do?” Poppy glanced up at the sky and frowned in disappointment, it was dusk and it would be dark soon. She shook her head rested her chin on her palm, not as hopeful as she was this morning. “I wanted to spend it with you and have a picnic, but I think it's too late for that.” 

Branch's expression changed to one of determination, and he stood up proclaiming. “It's not too late!” He then grabbed the flowers he got her and offered them once more. “Poppy, would you accompany me on a picnic this fine evening?” Poppy giggled and accepted the flowers, holding out her hand daintily. “It would be a pleasure.” She said in a posh voice, and Branch took her hand and hauled her up. 

She took his hand with her free one and they drew close, Poppy placing another soft chaste kiss on his cheek. Branch's skin felt electrified where she had kissed him, both of them deeply blushing. They pulled away but their hand never let go, and they started walking to Poppy's pod. It was a quiet evening, the night critters just beginning to chirp their night time songs. The sky a beautiful mix of red, pink, and orange shades. The two trolls hands linked together, and the longer they held each other the more their marks grew sprouting more flowers. 

Poppy and Branch said nothing, they'd only shoot each other loving glances from time to time. But they didn't need to, because they had faced their problems and it looked like things were going to be alright. Soon they had reached the troll village and walked up to Poppy's pod. Once inside Poppy reluctantly let go of his hand, and smiled sheepishly. “I have to grab the food real quick and freshen up a bit, I'll only be a minute.” 

She didn't want to tell Branch that she had been bawling her eyes out for hours, but she in her opinion didn't look her best. Branch tilted his head in confusion, and said. “But you look just fine?” She smiled bashfully and playfully hit his shoulder. “Flirt! I'll be five minutes tops!” She then ran up the stairs to get herself ready for her date, leaving Branch by himself. “Hello Branch.” Branch froze in slight fear at the sound of Peppy's unsettlingly calm voice. 

Hesitantly he turned around to see Peppy with his arms crossed, sporting a stern look on his face. “May I have a word with you outside really quick?” He asked quietly, and Branch not wanting to disobey his king or upset Poppy's father any further he hustled out the door with much haste. Once outside Peppy turned his view towards the village, while branch fidgeted nervously next to him. 

Peppy sighed, knowing that he should have given Branch this talk from the get go. “Branch, your father was my best friend.” He said seeming out of nowhere, snapping Branch out of his stupor and gaining his attention. “We grew up together, he was like family… and I promised that I would take care of you with Rosiepuff. I care for you Branch, I want what's best for you. And what's best for you right now is my daughter, and her love for you. But you must understand that I can't sit idly by while you break Poppy's heart, so I want you to promise me something.” 

Branch nodded, urging him to continue. “If you truly care about her then treat her like it, and make sure she knows how you feel. Make her feel as loved as she makes you feel. And don't take her kindness or happiness for granted, because you don't want to see her like that do you.” Branch didn't say anything, but he shook his head understanding completely. Just then Poppy came down the stairs with a basket in her hands wearing a dark green dress with a leaf like pattern integrated into it. 

“Hey Branch I'm ready to… Oh hi Daddy! I'm feeling much better, thank you so much!” She kissed him on the cheek, and smiling brightly. “Remember what you said about compromises this morning? Well me and Branch talked and I think things are working better! Branch and I are going on a picnic and we might be a little late.” Peppy smiled and hugged her and said. “That's fine dear, have fun!”

Poppy skipped out the door, but before Branch could follow Peppy spoke again. “Oh and Branch!” Branch halted but didn't turn around. “Make my daughter cry again, and we're going to have words!” He said low so Poppy couldn't hear, but Branch just shakily nodded in response. Branch was still slightly shaken as he and Poppy started on their trek to have their picnic. ‘It’s getting late, it won’t be long until we won't be able to see. Where is she planning on having this picnic?’ 

As Branch’s thoughts continued to trouble him Poppy noticed her company was feeling anxious and it was easy to figure out why. ‘He’s probably worried about how late it is, I told him we could do this another day. What can I do to make him more comfortable? I know!’ Poppy’s face lit up as an idea came to her. She tugged on Branch’s hand to regain his attention, once he broke from him thoughts he smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry for drifting off, is there something you need?” 

Poppy beamed, “It’s fine. However, what isn’t fine is that you are nervous. You’re worried about how late it is aren’t you?” Branch was struck speechless. He didn’t think he was being that obvious, then again maybe he wasn’t. After all Poppy knew him better than anyone else did, she could pick up on what he was feeling even when he tried to hide it. 

“You’re right. I am a bit anxious, where do you plan on having this picnic? A lot of dangerous predators come out at night.” Poppy hummed as she thought about what he told her, ‘How do we have this picnic without worrying Branch about the dangers? It’d be easier to just move it to another day but he is insistent that we have it today. I guess I can ask again if he wants to switch days.’ 

Decision made Poppy turned to face Branch and inquired, “I don’t mind putting this onto another day Branch. If it’s not safe then you’ll be worried through it and that’s not what I want. The whole point of the picnic was to spend some time relaxing together and if you’re stressed then it destroys the point. We could just reschedule this for a different day. Besides the food is cold now, it won’t taste as good.” 

A scowl broke out across Branch’s face as he replied, “No, we are going on that picnic tonight. If something does come I’ll protect us both. You’re right we could do this another day, but it won’t be our anniversary then and this is our first anniversary so there won’t be another one of those at all. Next year will be our second not our first and I’ll plan something to make up for this year’s disaster. As for the food, you went through the trouble of making food for us to share so I’ll eat it, not because I’m hungry but because you made it for us. As for the temperature don’t worry about it, I’ve eaten roots and herbs some cold food won’t hurt me.” Poppy was shocked as she locked eyes with Branch only to see his eye’s full of determination. 

Warmth bubbled up from deep within her, she could already see Branch’s new determination to put his best effort. It was reassuring and encouraging to see him trying so hard so quickly. “Okay. But don’t say I didnt warn you later if you get sick from cold food.” Branch hesitantly slides his arm over her shoulder and pulls her snuggly against his side. Poppy looked surprised at his initiative but she quickly melts into his side in delight at the new turn of events. 

Flushing slightly from joy, Poppy wraps her arm around his waist as she curled as close as she physically could get, causing Branch to flush darkly. Poppy wearily hesitated when he first tensed up, expecting to be pushed away, only she was surprised once again when instead of pushing away from her or letting her go he tightened his arm bringing them just a bit closer. She tipped her head sideways against his shoulder and smiled up at him to show her happiness with his efforts. 

Branch looked down and met her eyes, he saw a beautiful shining light in them that belonged solely to Poppy, and it was directed straight at him as if he was the only thing in her entire world. ‘If she looks at me like that whenever I hug her I’ll have to do it everytime I see her just to bring out that look.’ The couple happily basked in one another’s presence as they walked, not completely unaware of their surroundings, Branch would never leave them vulnerable like that, but focusing their attention inside their little bubble of personal space. 

As the evening went on and they hadn’t made it to their picnic spot yet Poppy could feel Branch getting more anxious the darker it got. Suddenly an idea hit her, she excitedly turned to Branch and exclaimed, “I have an idea! What if you pick where we have the picnic? You can secure the area to your heart’s content, you can even set some traps around it if it’ll make you feel better! There’s still a little light left so you could get everything set and be comfortable while we eat!” Branch was pleasantly surprised by his girlfriend yet again as she showed impressive on the spot planning. 

“That’s a brilliant idea! I know just the place, for the most part it’s isolated but I’ll still put up a few traps just to be safe.” As he broke off into a ramble of thoughts Poppy happily walked by his side with her arm wound with his as he led her to the area he chose. Once they made it to the clearing Branch had picked, he immediately set to work on setting up the few traps he deemed necessary for his comfort as Poppy sat on a rock nearby to wait. Poppy took in her surroundings while she waited, a clear outcropping of rocks that looked over a beautiful meadow of flowers. 

If she listened really hard she could faintly hear the sound of running water. ‘I should ask him later what that is, it’d be nice if it was a waterfall. It sounds really far away, although Branch can probably hear it as if it’s right next to us his hearing is amazing.’ As her thoughts and eyes drifted to his ears she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing or cooing when one of them twitched back and forth. 

‘They’re so cute! I don’t see many Trolls who can move their ears as much as he can, maybe it has to do with his enhanced hearing? I can kind of move mine but not that much.’ Poppy couldn’t hold in a giggle when both of his ears twitched in perfect unison in her direction. Branch turned from his half built trap to ask, “Why are you laughing? There’s only you and me here and all I’m doing is building traps. There’s nothing funny is there?” 

As he said that he began looking around for whatever was making her laugh, unaware that his ears started twitching again now that he was actively listening for movement. That of course sent Poppy into a whole new round of giggles and confused Branch even more. As much as he enjoyed seeing Poppy flushed from laughter, he didn’t enjoy not knowing why since it was most likely something he did and just didn't notice. Seeing her boyfriends frustrated pout Poppy took a deep breath and forced herself to stop laughing so she could explain herself. 

Poppy slid off of her perch, slowly walking over to Branch who gave up on finishing his last trap until she satisfied his curiosity. She stopped with a foot of space between them and cheekily smiled as she explained, “I’m sorry, I promise I’m not laughing at you. It’s just that whenever you hear something interesting or when you listen really hard your ears twitch.” Branch’s former confusion melted into embarrassment, of course she noticed that it was stupid of him to think she wouldn’t. 

Seeing his down expression Poppy sobered quickly and worriedly inquired, “Hey, what’s wrong? And don’t say nothing because it’s obvious that something is bugging you and since it happened directly after I mentioned your ears I take it has something to do with that?” Branch grimaced as she hit the nail on the head, sighing he told her, “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that. They’ve always done that and I wish they didn’t. When I was a kid my ears were huge in comparison to my head, obviously I grew into them but the other kids always teased me relentlessly about their size and once they learned they moved around they never left me alone about it. My grandma was the only one who liked my ears, she use to tell me that they were cute and since they are that big that I’d have a better sense of hearing than most. She was right obviously, but I was hoping that you wouldn’t notice that habit.” 

Poppy was bewildered that someone wouldn’t like his ears, and the thought of a young branch with ears too big for his head made her want to squeal from how cute it was. She had never wished she had a picture of him as a kid more than that moment. Seeing him awkwardly shift back and forth on his legs she swiftly moved to reassure him, “Well, I don’t understand why those kids would tease you about them. I never saw your ears back then but seeing them right now? Your grandma was right, they are absolutely adorable! That’s why I kept giggling, it wasn’t that they look funny it’s because they’re so cute that I can’t help but giggle when I see it. It really makes me want to tug on them to be completely truthful but don’t worry I won't do that.” 

Branch snapped his head up to look at her in a mix of confusion and wonder. Then the last part of what she said computed in his mind and he flushed hotly. ‘Well at least she holds herself back. I’m surprised she managed, usually when she thinks something is cute she has no impulse control.’ Deciding that a subject change was needed Branch turned back around to finish his last trap so they could have their picnic in peace. Over his shoulder he shyly offered, “Not right now but maybe sometime in the future I’ll sit down and let you but not now and probably not anytime soon.” 

Poppy was internally squealing, Branch had just told her that he might eventually allow her to touch his ears! Considering how noise sensitive they are they’re probably super touch sensitive too. If he ever did let her she would have to be very careful as to not hurt him on accident. Her thoughts were cut off by a triumphant “AHA!” Branch dusted off his hands as he stepped back from the last trap, he picked it up and positioned it where he wanted it before turning and making his way back to Poppy. 

Poppy carefully chose a spot to lay the blanket down where it would be mostly level. As she pulled the blanket out and shook it she was surprised when the other side was grabbed by a familiar pair of grey hands. She looked up to see Branch holding half of the blanket and watching her expectantly. “Where do you want to put it, I’ll help since it’s easier with two people.” Feeling a smile stretch across her face Poppy gestured to where she wanted it to be placed. Once the blanket was down Poppy began pulling out the food, as she set their dinner Branch smoothed out the blanket. 

After a few minutes the food was set and ready to eat. Poppy scanned over their work with a smile, moving onto the blanket she carefully sat down as to not disturb the food. After squirming to find a comfortable position she looked up to see Branch awkwardly standing at the edge of the blanket. With a giggle she grabbed his hand and tugged him down to sit next to her. Poppy leaned sideways onto him as they started to eat. 

Branch tensed a bit, but relaxed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, content with this new position. Throughout the meal they stayed like that, curled together and enjoying one another's presence. Poppy could honestly say she had never been happier than she was right then, she was happy she had thought of this. Branch was much more relaxed this way. From now on she would have him pick and fortify the area before going on date. 

That way they can both enjoy themselves. Before long all the food was eaten and Poppy was dozing on Branch’s shoulder. After he noticed he went absolutely still as to not accidentally wake her up. However, as the night grew colder he knew that if they stayed outside for much longer they could get sick. Decision made Branch, as slowly as he could, slid Poppy so instead of resting on his shoulder she was laying face up in his lap. 

After checking one more time that she was asleep, he slowly slid his arms under her knees and back. With one heave he had an armload of sleeping Poppy, now the fun part standing up without jostling her out of her peaceful sleep. He carefully stood while cradling her tightly against his chest to make certain she wouldn’t fall. Once he was successfully standing Branch looked around the area at the blanket, basket, and dishes before looking at the sleeping girl in his arms. 

‘I’ll come back for it later. It’s not worth risking waking her up or staying out here any longer. Besides I have to come back for my traps anyway.’ With that thought Branch turned swiftly on his heel and started toward the royal pod. Branch moved swiftly but carefully, the sleeping princess's hand gently resting on his exposed chest. As They got closer to Poppy's pod he could see king Peppy waiting outside, his arms crossed in front of his chest. 

Peppy spotted his daughter unconscious in Branch's arms, but he had no urgency or panic to his pace so he knew she was fine. Branch drew close to the pod, and peppy opened the door for them. “That's better Branch.” He said quietly, careful not to wake Poppy. “And it better stay that way.” He said sternly, and then he walked back to his pod. Branch did his best not to shudder afraid he'd wake her if he did. 

He then came to the stairs and looked up them, he'd done harder things. Surely he could do this, right? He readjusted Poppy a little so he had a better grip on her, and he started to climb the steps. But Poppy's face was now a lot closer to his neck, and she nuzzled into it causing Branch to freeze. Poppy didn't know and she wasn't doing it on purpose, but Branch was extremely ticklish. He tried his best to control his body, worried he might tumble down the stairs with Poppy. 

But eventually he got to the top, shifting Poppy again so she wasn't tickling him anymore. Then he walked up to her bed and laid her down, pulling the bright pink blanket over her. He let out a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall, staring at the bright pink love of his life. He had made it up to her, but he still felt a little guilty. Then he saw from the corner of his eye on her desk was the bouquet of flowers he gave her, he stood up and walked over to it. 

He gently picked them up and placed them on the pillow next to Poppy's head, then he saw a piece of paper and a pen and decided he should leave her a note. He quickly scribbled down something and placed it on her bed, then he leaned in and kissed her temple. He creeped out as quietly as possible, closing her pod behind him and heading off into the night. 

The next morning Poppy woke up in her bed, which confused her a lot. Last thing she remembered was being with Branch, she must've fallen asleep. Pouting a little that she didn't get to say goodnight, she stretched her arms. But her hand brushed up against something, and she turned and saw her flowers from him and a note. 

She sat up and took the note in her hands, it read. “Poppy, thanks for allowing me to make it up to you last night. It's the happiest I've been in decades, and I plan to work on my anger so I won't hurt you again. I'll be busy today but you're free to bug me later, have a good morning. Branch.” Poppy squeezed the paper to her chest, smiling brightly. She was starting to think maybe, just maybe she could have a love like her father's. Not the same, not by a long shot. But maybe one just as strong.


	7. Author's Note

I know you’re probably disappointed that this isn’t a chapter, but don’t fear we are well on our way through the actual Chapter 7 and it should be done soon. I thought of something and figured I’d ask you guys to see what you think. So what would you guys think of a bonus chapter of smaller, and probably bigger knowing me, one shots for Broppy? I’d greatly appreciate your feedback on this be it ideas, prompts, or your opinions. There are a lot of parts I get hung up on and NerdAlert has to handle, this would be something I can work on while NerdAlert works on the parts that my writers block acts up with. As a bonus you guys would get smaller stories along with the actual story whenever my creativity strikes. Also would you want them to be mixed with the Tough Love story or in a completely different story for all the one shots? Like I said I’d like to hear your opinions and definitely your ideas, If I use your ideas then I will make sure to credit you at the top as long as you put your name or what you want to be named.


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